Zinc and Nitrogen-Doped Carbon In-Situ Wrapped ZnO Nanoparticles as a High-Activity Catalyst for Acetylene Acetoxylation

Acetylene chemical process, especially catalyzing acetylene acetoxylation for the synthesis of vinyl acetate (VAc), has attracted wide attention in coal-rich countries. Although great efforts have been made to prepare different catalysts to improve the VAc synthesis via acetylene acetoxylation, the acetic acid (HAc) conversion cannot achieve a satisfactory level, much lower than 60%. Herein, ZnO nanoparticles in situ wrapped on zinc-nitrogen-carbon materials (ZnO@ Zn–N–C) have been successfully synthesized. Due to the simultaneous presence of nitrogen and carbon in chitosan, the obtained carbon material achieved in situ nitrogen doping during the high-temperature treatment. Furthermore, the as-obtained ZnO@Zn–N–C exhibits high specific surface area of 1430.1 m 2 /g and pore volume of 0.92 cm 3 /g, because Zn composites have the ability to etch carbon to form pores. In particular, ZnO@Zn–N–C displays an amazing catalytic activity for acetylene acetoxylation to synthesize VAc with the HAc conversion high up to 88.8%, which is much higher than those reported in other papers before. Graphic Abstract