Recent Progress in Catalytic Oxidative Transformations of Alcohols by Supported Gold Nanoparticles

Catalytic oxidative transformations of alcohols constitute one of the greatly important protocols for the synthesis of various aldehydes, ketones, acids, imines, amides, etc. that are required to make drug intermediates, food additives, plastics, detergents and cosmetics. The potential of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) in catalytic oxidation reactions is generally competent owing to their tendency to activate oxygen. Supports play a conspicuous and increasingly important role not only in the preparation and stabilization of Au NPs, but also can address the issues of sustainability by facilitating separation and reusability of the catalyst. This review aims to systematically discuss the impressive developments in catalytic oxidative transformations of alcohols promoted by supported Au NPs in the last five years. These Au NPs exhibit unique electronic properties and crystal structures, which gives us an excellent opportunity to correlate atomic structure with intrinsic catalytic properties over Au NPs. The effect of a support on the significant properties of Au NPs in terms of catalytic activity, selectivity, recyclability, and stability is discussed at length. The tentative reaction mechanisms and the structure-performance relationships are also discussed at appropriate places, which will provide some clues for the design of efficient Au NPs-based catalysts.