Heterostructured Fe2O3/BiVO4 nano-photocatalyst for the reduction of nitroarenes into amines

Abstract Nitro-reduction of aromatic nitro compounds into anilines has vast opportunities in synthetic chemistry. The catalytic systems used earlier operated under harsh conditions, which was very expensive to achieve end products. Visible light has advantages over the catalytic system due to the easy availability, low cost, and abundance. The present methodology describes the efficient reduction of a variety of aromatic nitro compounds into the corresponding anilines using a Z-scheme Fe2O3/BiVO4 photocatalyst under visible light illuminance. The photocatalyst demonstrated excellent activity up to 99% conversion of the nitrobenzene into aniline and for a series of nitroarenes as well at room temperature and atmospheric pressure visible light irradiation. The catalytic system has the advantage due to no leaching in the recycling experiments and high stability up to six cycles. The use of low-cost transition and p-block metal enhances the applicability of the catalytic system for aromatic nitro compounds reduction into the corresponding amines.