In Situ Recycling of E-Waste Into Gold-Loaded Cage Catalysts for Propargylamine Synthesis From Benzyl Alcohol.

Abstract

Recovering gold from e-waste and giving it new properties not only facilitates the recycling of resources but also offers economic and environmental benefits. Herein, we report the use of a highly stable porous aromatic cage (T-PAC) for the selective extraction of gold from e-waste (Kd = 3.42 × 105 mL g-1, with >99% removal). The gold-loaded cage catalyst Au@PAC can catalyze the coupling of phenylboronic acid with high efficiency and 99% conversion. Notably, Au@PAC can catalyze the synthesis of propargylamine starting from benzyl alcohols rather than conventional aldehydes. A variety of propargylamines were successfully prepared in good yields (76%-84%) with water as the solvent. We show that T-PAC's unique binding sites and reaction microenvironment facilitate the in situ generation of Au0 and the immobilization of AuIII; these two valence states of gold species jointly participate in and drive the reaction, enabling the one-step conversion of alcohols to propargylamine. This study demonstrates a circular economy approach that integrates waste recovery, catalyst preparation, and green synthesis.

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