Gold-catalyzed selectivity-switchable oxidation of benzyl alcohol in the presence of molecular oxygen

A selectivity-switchable oxidation of benzyl alcohol by molecular oxygen is achieved with the iron doped graphene (FeGr) supported gold catalysts. The oxidative esterification process is dominant with Au/FeGr and K2CO3 as the catalyst in methanol where a 96.2% conversion of benzyl alcohol and 99.9%...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCatalysis communications Vol. 85; pp. 70 - 74
Main Authors Sun, Jinyan, Tong, Xinli, Liu, Zonghui, Liao, Shengyun, Zhuang, Xuli, Xue, Song
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 05.10.2016
Subjects
Benzyl alcohol
Graphene
Molecular oxygen
Oxidation
Selectivity-switchable
Molecular oxygen
Oxidation
Benzyl alcohol
Graphene
Selectivity-switchable
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Summary:A selectivity-switchable oxidation of benzyl alcohol by molecular oxygen is achieved with the iron doped graphene (FeGr) supported gold catalysts. The oxidative esterification process is dominant with Au/FeGr and K2CO3 as the catalyst in methanol where a 96.2% conversion of benzyl alcohol and 99.9% selectivity of methyl benzoate were obtained. While, the oxidation of benzyl alcohol is orientated to produce benzaldehyde in n-butanol using AuPd/FeGr as the catalyst, in which an 89.1% conversion and 87.5% selectivity of benzaldehyde was attained. Moreover, the effects of the additive, reaction medium and reaction time were investigated. Also, the oxidation of different benzylic alcohols was successfully performed under the optimal conditions. Furthermore, the used catalysts were characterized by XRD, NH3-TPD, SEM, Roman, TG-DTA and BET techniques. Based on the experimental results and phenomena, a possible reaction mechanism is proposed for the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol with molecular oxygen in which alkyl benzoate is produce through the hemiacetal intermediate of benzaldehyde with short chain alcohol, and the generation rate of hemiacetal decides the selectivity of product. [Display omitted] •A product selectivity-switchable oxidation of benzyl alcohol has been developed.•96.2% conversion and 99.9% selectivity of methyl benzoate is obtained in methanol.•89.1% conversion and 87.5% selectivity of benzaldehyde is attained in n-butanol.•A possible reaction mechanism for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol is proposed.
ISSN:1566-7367
1873-3905
DOI:10.1016/j.catcom.2016.07.018