Selectivity-tunable amine aerobic oxidation catalysed by metal-free N,O-doped carbons.

Herein, we present a series of N,O-doped mesoporous carbons obtained at different pyrolysis temperatures as the first metal-free catalysts which successfully switch between imine and nitrile products for amine oxidation. Systematic characterization studies and control experiments revealed that the C-O group on the surface could function as a catalytically active site for nitrile synthesis and the N-doping environment was essential.