Solvent-free aerobic selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol catalyzed by palladium nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-containing ordered mesoporous carbon

Abstract A series of nitrogen-containing ordered mesoporous carbon (NOMC) materials have been prepared by a one-pot soft-templating method under an aqueous solution by adopting various nitrogen-containing precursors. The synthesized NOMC materials were utilized as catalyst supports to load palladium (Pd). The ordered mesostructures of NOMC have been reserved after the loading of Pd, and Pd nanoparticles were well dispersed on the surface of NOMC materials. The analytic results of XPS confirmed that the supported Pd species existed mainly in the form of metallic Pd (Pd0) and there was a probable interaction between Pd and nitrogen species of NOMC. In the solvent-free aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol, the Pd/NOMC materials demonstrated high catalytic activities, affording a maximum yield of benzaldehyde up to 95% at 95 °C of reaction temperature.