Journal
CHEMICAL SCIENCE
Volume 1, Issue 3, Pages 310-314Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/c0sc00214c
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Funding
- U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences [DE-FG02-84-ER13289]
- Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
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We demonstrate for the first time that selective cross-coupling of methanol with either ethanol or n-butanol occurs below room temperature on metallic gold with no metal oxide support in a reaction sequence that occurs entirely on the surface. The esterification proceeds via activation of the alcohols by adsorbed oxygen and a sequence of reactions that involve both surface-bound alkoxys and hemiacetals as intermediates. The reaction selectivity is dictated by competing beta-hydride elimination from the alkoxys. Due to the higher activation energy for beta-hydride elimination from methoxy, no formate esters are formed. A molecular-scale mechanism constructed using our results is in excellent agreement with studies of heterogeneous catalysts, providing insight into selectivity control under a broad range of conditions.
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