Silver Selenide as the Novel Catalytic Material for Alcohol Oxidation

By calcining selenium powder and silver powder at 150 degrees C under N-2 protection, the novel material silver selenide (Ag/Se) could be easily fabricated. It possessed very strong oxygen carrier features and could activate the molecular oxygen to achieve the catalytic oxidation reactions. In this work, the Ag/Se-catalyzed alcohol oxidation reactions were investigated to afford a novel clean method for the synthesis of carbonyls. It could be applied for the oxidation reactions of primary and secondary alcohols, and could catalyze the selective oxidation of primary alcohols to synthesize aldehydes in moderate yields. Ag/Se as the novel Se-containing catalytic material may be comprehensively applied in future and significantly pushes forward the development of the chemistry of Se catalysis.

Automated summary

By calcining selenium powder and silver powder, the novel material silver selenide was easily fabricated, possessing strong oxygen carrier features and catalyzing oxidation reactions, especially alcohol oxidation reactions for synthesizing aldehydes. Ag/Se shows great potential for future applications in the field of Se catalysis.