Benzoin is an important feedstock with high additional value for its extensive use in chemical industry. Benzoin condensation characterized by CC coupling between benzaldehyde requires the use of nucleophilic catalysts including cyanide or N-heterocyclic carbene and is restricted to organic medium such as MeCN, diethyl ether, etc. Construction of efficient and non-toxic catalysts for benzoin synthesis still remains a challenge. Herein, highly selective (97%) benzoin synthesis from benzyl alcohol was achieved over potassium modified g-C₃N₄ via light-driven tandem selective oxidation and CC coupling. The outstanding performance was attributed to alkali modifications on the electronic structure and surface chemical environment of g-C₃N₄. K⁺ intercalation not only facilitated the light harvesting as well as the transport of charge carriers, but also induced surface deprotonation of g-C₃N₄ and thus remarkable nucleophilicity for prompting the CC coupling reactions. This work sheds light on the design of earth-abundant inorganic photocatalysts for CC coupling reactions such as the green synthesis of benzoin under ambient conditions.

安息香是一种重要的原料，因其在化学工业中的广泛应用而具有很高的附加值。以苯甲醛之间的C C偶合为特征的苯并缩合反应需要使用包括氰化物或N-杂环卡宾在内的亲核催化剂，并且仅限于有机介质（如MeCN，二乙醚等）。仍然需要构建有效且无毒的苯偶姻合成催化剂一个挑战。在此，通过光驱动的串联选择性氧化和CC偶联，在钾改性的gC ₃ N ₄上，由苄醇实现了高选择性（97％）苯偶姻合成。优异的性能归因于碱性修饰对gC的电子结构和表面化学环境的影响₃ N ₄。K ^+的插入不仅促进了光的收集以及电荷载流子的运输，而且还诱导了gC ₃ N _4的表面去质子化，从而促进了C C偶联反应，并具有显着的亲核性。这项工作为设计用于C C偶联反应（例如在环境条件下绿色合成安息香）的富含地球活性的无机光催化剂的设计提供了启示。