Synthesis of Layered Carbonitrides from Biotic Molecules for Photoredox Transformations

Abstract

Abstract The construction of layered covalent carbon nitride polymers based on tri‐s‐triazine units has been achieved by using nucleobases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine and uracil) and urea to establish a two‐dimensional semiconducting structure that allows band‐gap engineering applications. This biomolecule‐derived binary carbon nitride polymer enables the generation of energized charge carrier with light‐irradiation to induce photoredox reactions for stable hydrogen production and heterogeneous organosynthesis of C−O, C−C, C−N and N−N bonds, which may enrich discussion on chemical reactions in prebiotic conditions by taking account of the photoredox function of conjugated carbonitride semiconductors that have long been considered to be stable HCN‐derived organic macromolecules in space.