Oxidant-free and metal-free highly-selective catalytic production of vanillic aldehyde through activated carbon fiber-mediated aerobic oxidation

Typically, oxidizing agents (such as H2O2) are necessitated for vanillic alcohol (VLA) conversion; nevertheless, intensive consumption of H2O2 is required due to the stoichiometric chemistry, and metal catalysts are usually required to improve conversion of VLA by H2O2. Nevertheless, for pursuing the goal of sustainability, it would be highly desired to develop an oxidizing agent-free and metal-free process which can selectively oxidize VLA to vanillic aldehyde (VAE). The aim of this study is to propose activated carbon fiber (ACF) as a highly effective catalyst for VLA conversion to VAE without using metals and oxidizing agents. At 120 degrees C within 30 min, ACF could enable CVLA = 100% with SVAE = 100% without using metals/oxidants. The effect of radical scavengers and ESR analyses further reveal that the oxidation of VLA to VAE by ACF could be attributed to reactive oxygen species derived from ACF-mediated aerobic reactions.

Automated summary

This study proposes activated carbon fiber (ACF) as a highly effective catalyst for the conversion of vanillic alcohol (VLA) to vanillic aldehyde (VAE) without using metals and oxidizing agents. The results show that reactive oxygen species derived from ACF-mediated aerobic reactions are responsible for the oxidation of VLA to VAE.