Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2011, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (11): 1693-1701.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(10)60273-2

• Research papers • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Selective Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol Catalyzed by Palladium Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon-Coated Iron Nanocrystals

ZHANG Hai, LIU Ying, ZHANG Xungao*   

  1. College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, Hubei, China
  • Received:2011-07-19 Revised:2011-08-24 Online:2011-11-14 Published:2015-03-30

Abstract: A magnetic separable Pd nanoparticles supported on carbon-coated iron nanocrystals (Pd/Fe@C) catalyst was prepared by an impregnation method and characterized by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The size of the Pd nanoparticles ranged from 4 nm to 10 nm and the average size was about 7 nm. The principal component of the Pd nanoparticles was determined to be Pd0 with Pd 3d5/2 binding energy at 335.6 eV. The as-made catalyst was applied to the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol. The effects on the oxidation of benzyl alcohol were investigated in detail, including the amount of catalyst, the solvent, the temperature, and the catalytic activity of recycling. The results indicated that benzaldehyde could be selectively synthesized from benzyl alcohol upon catalysis by Pd/Fe@C. The conversion of benzyl alcohol was 96% and the selectivity for benzaldehyde was 95% when using 0.5% Pd/Fe@C catalyst with acetonitrile as a solvent under an oxygen atmosphere at 80 °C. The catalyst can be easily separated magnetically and high catalytic activity was retained after recycling the catalyst four times.

Key words: carbon-coated iron nanocrystal, palladium catalyst, benzyl alcohol, selective oxidation, benzaldehyde