Using plant tannin as natural amphiphilic stabilizer to construct an aqueous–organic biphasic system for highly active and selective hydrogenation of quinoline

Abstract

Black wattle tannin (BWT), a typical natural plant polyphenol, was used as natural amphiphilic stabilizer to prepare BWT-stabilized Pd nanoparticles (BWT-Pd) catalyst. The as-prepared catalyst was found to be highly active in aqueous–organic biphasic hydrogenation of quinoline, which exhibited 100% selectivity to 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline (py-THQ). Furthermore, the BWT-Pd catalyst can be reused 3 times without significant loss of catalytic activity, thus providing an effective and environmentally benign strategy for the production of py-THQ.