Au/activated-carbon catalysts for selective oxidation of alcohols with molecular oxygen under atmospheric pressure: Role of basicity

Addition of alkali (NaOH) increases significantly the activity of carbon supported gold catalyst for selective oxidation of alcohols with molecular oxygen carried out in non-aqueous medium (toluene) under mild conditions (1 atm. and 80 degrees C). The role of alkali in the reaction was investigated and it was found that the significant improvement of activity might be ascribed to the formation of Au-OH- sites where H-abstraction from alcohol takes place. The re-used catalyst completed four cycles without any appreciable loss of activity or selectivity under the given reaction conditions. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.