Liquid phase aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol over Pd and Rh catalysts on N-doped mesoporous carbon : effect of the surface acido-basicity

• Main Authors: Wang, Bo, Lin, Ming, Ang, Thiam Peng, Chang, Jie, Yang, Yanhui, Borgna, Armando
• Other Authors: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/99056; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/12904
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Monometallic Pd and Rh catalysts supported on N-doped mesoporous carbon (NMC), mesoporous carbon (MC), pristine and nitric acid treated activated carbons (AC and ACN) were synthesized and applied in the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol. Surface acido-basicity property of catalyst support was found to be a key factor influencing the catalytic performance. Zeta potential analysis revealed that NMC is basic, MC is neutral, AC and ACN are acidic. Both Pd and Rh catalysts on NMC showed higher activity and selectivity toward benzaldehyde than those on other carbon supports. The acidic support promotes the by-product formation, including hydrobenzoin and dibenzyl ether.