Highly Dispersed, Subnano Mo-Catalyzed Reductive C-N Coupling of Aryl Boric Acids and Aromatic Nitro Compounds

Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF)-derived CN-20@Mo catalyst has been successfully prepared by a simple and scalable strategy with high specific surface area and highly dispersed, subnano Mo species. Mo species of this catalyst exist in form of MoN4 single atom sites and MoOx subnanometer clusters, both of which exhibits excellent performance in C–N coupling reactions between arylboronic acids and aromatic nitro compounds. This catalyst is easy to recycle and can be reused for at least 6 times without significant decrease in activity. To the best of our knowledge, there is the first example on the heterogeneous Mo-catalyzed reductive C–N coupling of aryl boric acids and aromatic nitro compounds.