Oxidation of Aliphatic Alcohols by Using Precious Metals Supported on Hydrotalcite under Solvent- and Base-Free Conditions

Precious metal nanoparticles supported on magnesium-aluminum hydrotalcite (HT), TiO2, and MgO were prepared by sol immobilization and assessed for the catalytic oxidation of octanol, which is a relatively unreactive aliphatic alcohol, with molecular oxygen as the oxidant under solvent- and base-free conditions. Compared with the TiO2- and MgO-supported catalysts, platinum HT gave the highest activity and selectivity towards the aldehyde. The turnover number achieved for the platinum HT catalyst was >3700 after 180min under mild reaction conditions. Moreover, the results for the oxidation of different substrates indicate that a specific interaction of octanal with the platinum HT catalyst could lead to deactivation of the catalyst.