Boosting alkyne semi-hydrogenation selectivity via metal-organic interface modulated self-supporting palladium-based catalysts

The semi-hydrogenation of alkynes is crucial in the chemical industry, yet developing catalysts with both high activity and selectivity remains challenging. In this work, we introduced a self-supported method to fabricate a palladium-based nanocatalyst by in-situ reduction of Pd(II) on copper-based coordination polymers (Cu(I)-PNS) without external reducing agents. The resulting Pd/Cu(I)-PNS catalyst demonstrated exceptional efficiency and 94.8 % selectivity for styrene in the semi-hydrogenation of phenylacetylene, with no over-hydrogenation. Our findings highlight that the metal–organic interface enhances the catalyst’s selectivity by weakening styrene adsorption due to electronic modification. Additionally, the catalyst exhibited superior stability and activity, showing potential for various alkynes. This approach offers a direct and efficient strategy for creating highly selective palladium-based nanocatalysts for industrial applications.