Solar-driven conversion of arylboronic acids to phenols using metal-free heterogeneous photocatalysts

Solar-driven conversion of arylboronic acids to phenols was achieved by employing graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) as heterogeneous photocatalyst, where O2− was the main active species. By loading g-C3N4 onto the easy weaving low melting point sheath-core composite polyester fibers (LMPET), g-C3N4-based artificial photosynthetic catalytic fabric (g-C3N4/LMPET) with a large light receiving area was prepared. It displayed the efficient conversion of arylboronic acid and excellent recycling performance. This system offers more possibilities to construct an artificial photosynthetic system with excellent solar-to-chemicals conversion efficiency.