Metal Nanoparticles On Layered Double Hydroxide: Highly Active Catalyst For Aerobic Oxidation Of Alcohols

The selective oxidation of alcohols into the corresponding carbonyl compound was a class of transformation for the production of a large variety of important intermediates and fine chemical products. Thus the development of clean and efficient oxidation methods for fine chemicals synthesis is highly required.Au-Pd bimetal catalysts supported on layered double hydroxide (LDH) have been prepared and structurally characterized using XRD, TEM and XPS. The Au and Pd nanoparticles with an average of 3.4±0.2 nm were highly dispersed on LDH. There was a strong electronic interaction between Au and Pd nanoparticles. The bimetallic catalyst afforded much higher catalytic performance than the corresponding monometallic catalyst for the alcohol oxidation in water. Especially, non-activated aliphatic primary alcohols can be oxidized into the corresponding acids nearly quantitatively over the bimetallic catalyst. The catalyst can be reused several times without obvious loss of its activity and selectivity. And the intercalation of amino acid and functionalized Poly(ethylene glycol) for the LDHs were able to effectively stabilize and immobilize palladium nanoparticles for their use as selective oxidation catalysts.The catalytic system designed was green, and the result would also contribute to the development of efficient and environmentally friendly catalysts for various organic reactions.