Co-oxide nanostructured catalysts tailored from layered double hydroxides for highly efficient hydrogenation of nitroarenes

Catalytic hydrogenation of aromatic nitro compounds containing multiple functional groups into corresponding amino compounds with high conversion rates, selectivity, and stability under mild conditions is a great challenge. Herein, we demonstrated low-cost CoAl LDH materials showing efficacy in the catalytic reduction of nitroarenes due to its highly active nature and own unique physical and chemical properties. The as-synthesized CoAl LDH catalysts exhibited a high conversion rate and selectivity for the hydrogenation of 7 different aromatic nitro compounds with different competing groups into the structure of the amino compounds using sodium borohydride under mild conditions (room temperature and 1 atm). The reaction was completed in a short time in between 5 and 150 min. The catalyst also showed excellent stability and could be reused over 8 times without considerably losing its activity.