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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Developing Photosensitizer-Cobaloxime Hybrids for Solar-Driven H2 Production in Aqueous Aerobic Conditions
Published on: October 5, 2019
Visible Light-Driven Singlet Oxygen-Mediated Aerobic Oxidation to Synthesize Quinazolinones Catalyzed by a
Chun-Yang Li1, Zi-Yi Wang1, Wan-Yu Zhu1
1Precise Synthesis and Function Development Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Applied Chemistry Institute, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, China.
Abstract:
Quinazolinones constitute an important class of N-heterocycles with broad applications in pharmaceuticals and organic science. Visible-light-driven aerobic oxidative cyclization of 2-aminobenzamides with aldehydes represents an appealing and sustainable strategy for their synthesis, yet existing photocatalytic systems generally suffer from low efficiency and poor recyclability. Herein, we report the rational construction of a two-dimensional (2D) photosensitizing metal-organic framework (MOF), {Th6O8[Ru(Phen-COO-)3]2(HCOO-)6(H2O)6·2H2O}n (1), which features Ru(Phen-COO-)3 moieties and [Th6] clusters in an ordered framework. Benefiting from efficient charge/energy transfer and long excited-state lifetime, 1 serves as a highly efficient heterogeneous photocatalyst for the aerobic oxidative cyclization of 2-aminobenzamides with benzaldehydes under ambient air and 40 W blue LED irradiation. Notably, the catalyst can be readily recycled for at least three consecutive runs with high activity and structural integrity. Mechanistic studies revealed that the reaction proceeds via imine and dihydroquinazolinone intermediates, with singlet oxygen (1O2) identified as the key reactive oxygen species (ROS). This work establishes the first construction of a 2D photosensitizing [Th6]-cluster-based MOF and realizes a rare 1O2-mediated photocatalytic aerobic oxidative cyclization of 2-aminobenzamides with aldehydes to produce quinazolinones.
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