Boosting Solvent-Free Aerobic Oxidation of Benzylic Compounds into Ketones over Au-Pd Nanoparticles Supported by Porous Carbon

The exploitation of highly efficient solvent-free catalytic systems for the selective aerobic oxidation of benzylic compounds to produce corresponding ketones with molecular oxygen under mild conditions remains a great challenge in the chemical industry. In this work, Au-Pd nanoparticles supported on porous carbon catalysts were fabricated by the borax-mediated hydrothermal carbonization method and the chemical reduction method. The physicochemical properties of Au-Pd bimetallic samples were examined by XRD, N-2 sorption, SEM, TEM, and XPS techniques. The Au-Pd nanoparticles have successfully immobilized on the spherical carbon support with a porous structure and large surface area. A solvent-free catalytic oxidation system was constructed to selectively convert indane into indanone with Au-Pd nanocatalysts and O-2. In contrast with a monometallic Au or Pd catalyst, the resulting bimetallic Au-Pd catalyst could effectively activate O-2 and exhibit improved catalytic activity in the controlled oxidation of indane into indanone under 1 bar O-2. A total of 78% conversion and >99% selectivity toward indanone can be achieved under optimized conditions. The synergistic effect of Au and Pd and porous carbon support contributed to the high catalytic activity for aerobic benzylic compound oxidation. This work offers a promising application prospect of efficient and recyclable Au-Pd nanocatalysts in functional benzylic ketone production