Highly dispersed nickel anchored on a N-doped carbon molecular sieve derived from metal-organic frameworks for efficient hydrodeoxygenation in the aqueous phase.

ZIF-8 was employed as a template to synthesize HD-Ni/N-CMS containing highly dispersed Ni at the atomic level anchored on a N-doped carbon molecular sieve for vanillin hydrodeoxygenation. The ZIF-8 structure was inherited and Ni-N bonds were formed by the coordination of Ni with N-rich defects, therefore it exhibited a high turnover frequency (1047.1 h(-1)) and good stability.