Photochemical fixation of carbon dioxide for N-formylation of amine using Cu(II) embedded BiVO4 nanocomposite under visible light

•Visible light assisted conversion of CO2 under mild reaction conditions.•Heterostructured CuO/BiVO4 photocatalyst provided efficient synthesis of formamides from amines and CO2.•Facile synthesis, efficient recycling and higher stability of the material.•Versatility of the protocol for a range of amine substrates.•The hybrid showed sluggish electron-hole pair recombination and higher efficiency than the bare BiVO4. N-Formylation reactions of amines with carbon dioxide (CO2) are gaining tremendous importance in the chemical fixation of CO2 to high-value chemicals. However, the methods reported so far either use homogeneous transition metal-based catalysts or higher reaction temperatures. The use of visible light under the mild experimental condition for the N-formylation of amines with CO2 is a promising approach yet less explored. The present paper describes an efficient methodology for the N-formylation of various aliphatic and aromatic amines with CO2 using a heterostructured CuO/BiVO4 catalyst under visible illumination. The incorporation of CuO as a p-type semiconductor enhanced the transfer of electrons in excess at the surface of BiVO4 semiconductor and afforded the highest 85 % conversion of aniline to formanilide. The heterostructured photocatalyst was found to be robust without any detectable leaching even after the seventh recycling run.