Multifunctional Pd/MOFs@MOFs Confined Core-Shell Catalysts with Wrinkled Surface for Selective Catalysis

Process intensification, targeting the maximization of spatial-temporal productivity utilizing minimum energy and resources has always been the constant trends especially in chemical industry. In this regard, tandem reactions that are able to perform a multi-step reaction in a single pot by eliminating costly separation steps have been viewed as a typical paradigm. However, a spatial isolation of varied active sites with a controlled manner in a single catalyst to avoid deactivation and work synergistically is a challenging problem yet sometimes being overlooked. In this work, a spatial base-metal core-shell structured catalyst with wrinkled surface was successfully fabricated by a direct homoepitaxial growth method in an acid/water system, which exhibited increased hydrophobicity, exposure of active sites and significantly improved product selectivity towards one-pot Knoevenagel condensation-hydrogenation tandem reaction compared with the uncoated catalyst. Meanwhile, the catalytic performance was largely retained and the structural stability was maintained even after successive 8 cycles, which shows great promise for industrial applications.