Boron nitride as an alternative support of Pd catalysts for the selective oxidation of lactose

The potential of boron nitride as innovative support for the selective oxidation of carbohydrates has been evaluated. Pd/h-BN catalysts as well as Pd/alpha-Al2O3 have been synthesized by two different methods for comparison: dry impregnation and deposition-precipitation. It is shown that BN is a suitable alternative to alumina and carbon for sugar oxidation in liquid phase. Very active and selective Pd/h-BN catalysts were obtained by the two synthetic methods under consideration. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.