Aerobic Oxidative Esterification of Aldehydes with Alcohols by Gold-Nickel Oxide Nanoparticle Catalysts with a Core-Shell Structure

Oxidative esterification of aldehydes with alcohols proceeds with high efficiency in the presence of molecular oxygen on supported gold-nickel oxide (AuNiOx) nanoparticle catalysts. The method is environmentally benign because it requires only molecular oxygen as the terminal oxidant and gives water as the side product. The AuNiOx nanoparticles have a core-shell structure, with the Au nanoparticles at the core and the surface covered by highly oxidized NiOx. Aerobic oxidative esterification of methacrolein in methanol to methyl methacrylate is an important industrial method for the production of polymethyl methacrylate.