Visible light assisted oxidative coupling of benzylamines using heterostructured nanocomposite photocatalyst

The present paper describes a simple and direct synthesis of heterostructured nanocomposite consisting of copper(I) oxide and carbon quantum dots (Cu2O/CQD). The structure and composition of the photocatalyst were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The synthesized photocatalyst was used for coupling of benzylamines using molecular oxygen as oxidant and house hold white LED as light emitting source under mild reaction conditions. The developed photocatalyst exhibited excellent activity, robustness and efficient recycling without any significant loss in activity for several runs.