Selective Oxidation of Aromatic Alcohol and Amine Under Visible-Light Irradiation Using Rh Doped SrTiO₃ Photocatalyst

Development of selective organic synthesis using environmentally benign, inexpensive and renewable resources has attracted much attention in both fundamental and industrial chemistry. In particular, selective oxidation of alcohol or amine for the synthesis of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals has received much attention in chemical research. Recently, selective oxidation using a semiconductor photocatalyst is considered to be one of the most sustainable energy conversion processes with significant advantages of operation under room temperature and utilization of clean, renewable solar light as the driving force. However, TiO₂, which is the famous semiconductor photocatalyst, has the following drawbacks; low photoactivity, poor selectivity and lack of utilization of visible light, and therefore hinder its application. Alternatively, the Rh doped SrTiO₃ (SrTiO₃:Rh) photocatalyst has been known to have a potential that can oxidize organic compounds and produce H₂ from water containing organic media (e.g. methanol) under visible light irradiation. Here, we attempted to use SrTiO₃:Rh as a visible light responsible photocatalyst for selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol or benzylamine, which were chosen as one of the model alcohol or amine derivatives, under visible light irradiation.