thumb|alt=caption|Carbocatalyzed oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes using graphene oxide (GO). '''Carbocatalysis''' is a form of catalysis that uses heterogeneous carbon materials for the transformation or synthesis of organic or inorganic substrates. The catalysts are characterized by their high surface areas, surface functionality, and large, aromatic basal planes. Carbocatalysis can be distinguishable from supported catalysis (such as palladium on carbon) in that no metal is present, or if metals are present they are not the active species.
As of 2010, the mechanisms of reactivity are not well understood.{{citation needed|date=July 2010}} <!-- the opinion must be attributed and "time-stamped"-->
One of the most common examples of carbocatalysis is the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene discovered in the 1970s.<ref name=alkhazov>{{cite journal | last1 = Alkhazov | first1 = T. G. | last2 = Lisovskii | first2 = A. E. | last3 = Gulakhmedova | first3 = T. Kh. | year = 1979 | title = Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene over a charcoal catalyst | journal = React. Kinet. Catal. Lett. | volume = 12 | issue = 2 | pages = 189–193 | doi = 10.1007/BF02071909 }}</ref> Also in the industrial process of (non-oxidative) dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene, the potassium-promoted iron oxide catalyst is coated with a carbon layer as the active phase. In another early example,<ref name=byung>{{cite journal | last1 = Byung | first1 = H. H. | last2 = Dae | first2 = H. S. | last3 = Sung | first3 = Y. C. | year = 1985 | title = Graphite catalyzed reduction of aromatic and aliphatic nitro compounds with hydrazine hydrate | journal = Tetrahedron Lett. | volume = 26 | issue = 50 | pages = 6233–6234 | doi = 10.1016/S0040-4039(00)95060-3 }}</ref> a variety of substituted nitrobenzenes were reduced to the corresponding aniline using hydrazine and graphite as the catalyst.
The discovery of nanostructured carbon allotropes such as carbon nanotubes,<ref name=ijima>{{cite journal | last1 = Iijima | first1 = S. | year = 1991 | title = Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon | journal = Nature | volume = 354 | issue = 6348 | pages = 56–58 | doi = 10.1038/354056a0 | bibcode=1991Natur.354...56I}}</ref> fullerenes,<ref name=kroto>{{cite journal | last1 = Kroto | first1 = H. W. | last2 = Heath | first2 = J. R. | last3 = O'Brien | first3 = S. C. | last4 = Curl | first4 = R. F. | last5 = Smalley | first5 = R. E. | year = 1985 | title = C<sub>60</sub>: Buckminsterfullerene | journal = Nature | volume = 318 | issue = 6042 | pages = 162–163 | doi = 10.1038/318162a0 | bibcode=1985Natur.318..162K}}</ref> or graphene<ref name=novoselov>{{cite journal | last1 = Novoselov | first1 = K. S. | last2 = Geim | first2 = A. K. | last3 = Morozov | first3 = S. V. | last4 = Jiang | first4 = D. | last5 = Zhang | first5 = Y. | last6 = Dubonos | first6 = S. V. | last7 = Grigorieva | first7 = I. V. | last8 = Firsov | first8 = A. A. | year = 2004 | title = Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films | journal = Science | volume = 306 | issue = 5696 | pages = 666–669 | doi = 10.1126/science.1102896 | pmid=15499015|arxiv = cond-mat/0410550 |bibcode = 2004Sci...306..666N }}</ref> promoted further developments. Oxidized carbon nanotubes were used to dehydrogenate n-butane to 1-butene,<ref name=zhang>{{cite journal | last1 = Zhang | first1 = J. | last2 = Liu | first2 = X. | last3 = Blume | first3 = R. | last4 = Zhang | first4 = A. | last5 = Schlögl | first5 = R. | last6 = Su | first6 = D. S. | year = 2008 | title = Surface-Modified Carbon Nanotubes Catalyze Oxidative Dehydrogenation of n-Butane | url = http://pubman.mpdl.mpg.de/pubman/item/escidoc:737077/component/escidoc:737076/378851_Sci322_73-77.pdf| journal = Science | volume = 322 | issue = 5898 | pages = 73–77 | doi = 10.1126/science.1161916 | pmid=18832641|bibcode = 2008Sci...322...73Z | hdl = 11858/00-001M-0000-0010-FE91-E | hdl-access = free }}</ref> and to selectively oxidize acrolein to acrylic acid.<ref name=frank>{{cite journal | last1 = Frank | first1 = B. | last2 = Blume | first2 = R. | last3 = Rinaldi | first3 = A. | last4 = Trunschke | first4 = A. | last5 = Schlögl | first5 = R. | year = 2011 | title = Oxygen Insertion Catalysis by sp<sup>2</sup> Carbon | journal = Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. | volume = 50 | issue = 43 | pages = 10226–10230 | doi = 10.1002/anie.201103340 | pmid = 22021211 | doi-access = free | hdl = 11858/00-001M-0000-0012-0B9A-8 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> Fullerenes were used in the catalytic reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline in the presence of H<sub>2</sub>.<ref name=li>{{cite journal | last1 = Li | first1 = B. | last2 = Xu | first2 = Z. | year = 2009 | title = A Nonmetal Catalyst for Molecular Hydrogen Activation with Comparable Catalytic Hydrogenation Capability to Noble Metal Catalyst | journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc. | volume = 131 | issue = 45 | pages = 16380–16382 | doi = 10.1021/ja9061097 | pmid=19845383| bibcode = 2009JAChS.13116380L }}</ref> Graphene oxide was used as a carbocatalyst to facilitate the oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes/ketones (shown in the picture), the hydration of alkynes, and the oxidation of alkenes.<ref name=dreyer>{{cite journal | last1 = Dreyer | first1 = D. R. | last2 = Jia | first2 = H.-P. | last3 = Bielawski | first3 = C. W. | year = 2010 | title = Graphene Oxide: A Convenient Carbocatalyst for Facilitating Oxidation and Hydration Reactions | journal = Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. | volume = 49 | issue = 38 | pages = 6813–6816 | doi = 10.1002/anie.201002160 | pmid = 20602388 }}</ref>
== References == <!--- See Wikipedia:Footnotes on how to create references using <ref></ref> tags which will then appear here automatically --> {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://books.google.com/books/about/Carbon_materials_for_catalysis.html?id=TvE9h0NCC7UC Carbon Materials for Catalysis]
Category:Catalysis