An Earth-abundant cobalt based photocatalyst: visible light induced direct (het)arene C–H arylation and CO2 capture

In this work, we have reported a noble metal free heterogeneous photocatalyst to carry out direct (het)arene C–H arylation and solvent-free CO2 capture via single-electron transfer processes at room temperature and under pressure. The catalytic system comprises a cobalt(iii) complex grafted over the silica coated magnetic support for the efficient recovery of the photocatalytic moiety without hampering its light-harvesting capability. The novel Earth-abundant cobalt(iii) based photocatalyst possesses various fascinating properties such as high surface area to volume ratios, large pore volume, crystalline behaviour, high metal loading, excellent stability and reusability. The general efficacy of the highly abundant and low-cost cobalt based heterogeneous nanocatalyst was checked for the selective conversion of aryldiazonium salts into synthetically and pharmaceutically significant biaryl motifs under ambient conditions upon irradiation with visible light. The highly efficient photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to a value-added chemical was accomplished under mild reaction conditions with high selectivity, showing the added benefit of operational simplicity.