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Updated: Sep 20, 2025

Facile Preparation of 2Z,4E-Dienamides by the Olefination of Electron-deficient Alkenes with Allyl Acetate
Published on: June 21, 2017
Efficient Photocatalytic Ethylene Oxidation to Acetaldehyde by Asymmetrical Dehydrogenation
Yaqin Yan1, Chao Yang1, Huining Wang1
1Laboratory of Advanced Materials, State Key Laboratory of Porous Materials for Separation and Conversion, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
Abstract:
Acetaldehyde is an essential commodity chemical with high demand, while its conventional production by homogeneous Wacker oxidation suffers from high corrosivity, high chlorine by-products, and separation difficulties. In this work, a Pd nanoparticle-loaded ZnO (Pd-ZnO) photocatalyst is developed for the selective oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde. The ZnO substrate provides hydroxyl radicals (•OH) from water oxidation, and the Pd active sites allow to promote the dehydrogenation of adsorbed symmetrical ethylene to form asymmetrical vinyl specie (*CH2═CH) with negatively charged carbon, which can be further attacked by •OH to vinyl alcohol (*C2H3OH) and finally undergo isomerization to produce acetaldehyde products. The Pd-ZnO photocatalyst exhibits a high C2H4-to-acetaldehyde yield of >3500 µmol g-1 h-1 with 60% selectivity at ambient temperature and pressure under illumination without the use of sacrificial agents, featuring one of the highest performances in both photocatalytic and electrocatalytic conversion. This work suggests an attractive opportunity for the photocatalytic production of acetaldehyde from ethylene.
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