Solvent controlled catalysis: Synthesis of aldehyde, acid or ester by selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol with gold nanoparticles on alumina

Sari Rautiainen, Olga Simakova, Hongfan Guo, Anne-Riikka Leino, Krisztián Kordás, Dmitry Murzin, Markku Leskelä, Timo Repo

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    Abstract

    As shown herein, selectivity of aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol with gold nanoparticles dispersed on Al2O3 support is solvent-controlled. Using different solvents, the reaction was directed toward a variety of products: benzaldehyde, benzoic acid or benzoic esters were selectively produced from benzyl alcohol depending on the conditions. In toluene, benzaldehyde was produced with high selectivity, while quantitative conversion to benzoic acid was achieved in alkaline water. In methanol, methyl benzoate was produced with very high yield. Moreover, activity of the catalyst was dramatically improved without loss of selectivity in biphasic media; with a toluene/alkaline water system the highest TOF for benzoic acid synthesis was close to 5200 h−1, selectivity being 98%.
    Original languageUndefined/Unknown
    Pages (from-to)202–206
    JournalApplied Catalysis A: General
    Volume485
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2014
    MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

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