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Abstract

Low-defect potassium poly(heptazine imide) (PHIK-BM) was engineered for application in photocatalytic oxidation of organic substrates. Mechanochemical pretreatment of a mixture of 5-aminotetrazole in LiCl/KCl eutectics using high-energy ball milling afforded a highly homogeneous mixture that, upon sequential thermolysis at 600 °C, gave nanosized particles of PHIK–BM. The photocatalytic activity of the free-standing PHIK–BM plates was assessed in the oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde under visible light irradiation using elemental sulfur as an electron acceptor. Both quantitative conversion (gt;99) of benzyl alcohol and selectivity (gt;98) with respect to benzaldehyde were achieved. The developed method was extended to aliphatic alcohol oxidation coupled with multicomponent Hantzsch 1,4-dihydropyridine synthesis. These 1,4-dihydropyridines were also photocatalytically oxidized by PHIK–BM to the corresponding substituted pyridines, with very good yields and under mild metal-free conditions.