Room temperature selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol under base-free aqueous conditions on Pt/TiO2

Pt nanoparticles supported on anatase TiO2 is an efficient and stable catalyst for room-temperature selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol under base-free aqueous conditions with ambient air as the oxidant. The result shows that the anatase content of support has a big influence on the activity of Pt/TiO2. Higher anatase content results in better performance, with optimal activity for Pt/anatase TiO2 of 76.7 +/- 1.5% in conversion and nearly 100% in selectivity to aldehyde within 10 h. Moreover, a quasi-linear relationship between anatase content of the support and the activity of Pt/TiO2 is observed.