Au/CNTs catalyst for highly selective hydrodeoxygenation of vanillin at the water/oil interface

Au/CNTs assembled at the interfaces of a Pickering emulsion are reported, for the first time, exhibiting good catalytic activity and 100% selectivity for the hydrodeoxygenation of vanillin to p-creosol under mild reaction conditions. Simultaneous reaction and separation of the target products are achieved, which leads to substantial simplification of the separation and purification process for bio-oil upgrading.