Selective Photocatalytic Oxidation of Benzyl Amine by O2 into N-benzylidenebenzylamine on TiO2 Using Visible Light

This paper deals with the photocatalytic oxidation of benzyl amine by O-2 on TiO2 under visible light irradiation, and it was found that the benzyl amine is selectively converted into N-benzylidenebenzylamine with high conversion (>80 %). The origin of visible light response is not due to the band-gap transition of TiO2, but to the excitation of the charge transfer surface complex constructed by the interaction of benzyl amine with the TiO2 surface, as characterized by spectroscopic analysis such as UV-Vis, FT-IR and DFT calculations. Moreover, investigations of the role of the surface OH groups on TiO2, the electron-transfer from the surface complex as well as kinetic studies provided insight into the reaction mechanisms.