Carbon nitride assisted chemoselective C-H bond photo-oxidation of alkylphenolethoxylates in water mediumElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c7gc01588g

The unprecedented ability of g-C 3 N 4 to chemoselectively photo-oxidise the methyl group of 2-(4-methylphenoxy)ethanol instead of the easily oxidised oxyethanol fragment has been demonstrated. When g-C 3 N 4 is treated with H 2 O 2 , its selectivity enhances due to the blocking of surface sites responsible for the adsorption and the subsequent oxidation of the oxyethanol substituent. H 2 O 2 -modified carbon nitride chemoselectively photo-oxidises the methyl group of alkylphenoxylate molecule 2-(4-methylphenoxy)ehanol in water medium.