Selective Oxidation of Alcohols Catalyzed by Supported Nano-Au Catalysts

A series of Cu-containing trimetal mixed oxides supported nano-Au catalysts were prepared and characterized by XRD, N-2 sorption, elemental analysis and H-2-TPR. Then, their catalytic performance was firstly investigated in the selective oxidation of glycerol with 3% H2O2 or O-2 as oxidants. It was found that both the elemental components of mixed oxides and the types of oxidant influenced remarkably the catalytic performance of the supported catalysts and the product distributions. Under the optimal reaction conditions, the highest yield of main product glyceric acid reached 66.5% over CuMnAl mixed oxide supported nano-Au catalyst in the presence of O-2. Moreover, the catalyst could be reused several times. In addition, the catalyst was further used in the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol and cyclohexanol, and the best yield of benzaldehyde and cyclohexanone were 72.5% and 96.0%, respectively.