Selective hydrogenation of nitroarenes over MOF-derived Co@CN catalysts at mild conditions

•Co@CN porous materials are synthesized by one-step pyrolysis of a zeolitic-type metal-organic framework ZIF-9.•Co@CN materials exhibited excellent catalytic activity and chemoselectivity for hydrogenation of nitrobenzene.•The catalytic activity of Co@CN-800 is 100% with aniline being the sole product at 70 °C for 2 h.•Some challenging nitroarenes are readily hydrogenated with the yield over 80% and aniline selectivity up to 100%.