Promoting H 2 Activation over Molybdenum Carbide by Modulation of Metal‐Support Interaction for Efficient Catalytic Hydrogenation

Transition metal carbides (TMCs) have been used extensively as catalysts for hydrogenation reactions. However, TMC catalysts suffer from low activity for H 2 activation, which is vital to their hydrogenation performance. Herein, we report a feasible strategy to improve the ability of TMCs (e. g., Mo 2 C) for H 2 activation by modulation of the metal‐support interaction (MSI). The MSI can be tuned by introducing N element into carbon supports. Specifically, N can modulate the orbital structure of Mo to promote H 2 activation. Experimental and theoretical results reveal that H 2 activation ability of the metal sites can be altered by loading them onto carbon supports, and optimized by doping N into the corresponding carbon matrices. Consequently, N‐doped carbon‐supported Mo 2 C (Mo 2 C/NC) catalyst, possessing improved H 2 activation ability, displays remarkably enhanced catalytic hydrogenation performance for the reduction of nitro compounds. The conversion and selectivity over Mo 2 C/NC are nearly 100 % under mild conditions.