Selective Oxidation of Alcohols to Carbonyl Compounds and Carboxylic Acids with Platinum Group Metal Catalysts

Abstract The use of platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts for the selective oxidation of various primary and secondary alcohols under mild conditions is described. High throughput screening (HTS) techniques have been used to identify trends in catalyst activity and product selectivity. Using air as oxidant and water as solvent 5% Pt, 1% Bi/C has been identified as an efficient catalyst for the transformation of 2‐octanol to 2‐octanone and 1‐octanol to octanoic acid. To improve aldehyde selectivity the promotion of Pt/Al 2 O 3 and Ru/C catalysts has been investigated. The use of H 2 O 2 as oxidant has been demonstrated as a suitable alternative to air.