Nitrogen-rich graphitic-carbon stabilized cobalt nanoparticles for chemoselective hydrogenation of nitroarenes at milder conditionsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: All the detailed procedures, analytical data and NMR (1H and 13C) spectra. See DOI: 10.1039/c7qi00772h

Herein, we report the synthesis of nitrogen-rich graphitic-carbon supported cobalt nanoparticles and their applications for the hydrogenation of various substituted nitroarenes. The aforementioned catalyst was synthesized by chelation of cobalt( ii )acetate with cucurbit[6]uril unit and pyrolysis under argon atmosphere. The synthesized catalyst was characterized using various physicochemical techniques. The catalyst was very active, robust, and reusable, thus allowing selective hydrogenation of substituted nitroarenes with molecular hydrogen in a water-tetrahydrofuran solvent at 50 °C. In all cases excellent conversion and selectivity were observed with very high turnover frequency (up to 14 117 h −1 ). Herein, we report the synthesis of nitrogen-rich graphitic-carbon supported cobalt nanoparticles and its application for the hydrogenation of nitroarenes in the water-THF mixture at 50 °C with maximum TOF of 14 117 h −1 .