Novel metal oxide nanocomposite of Au/CuO-ZnO for recyclable catalytic aerobic oxidation of alcohols in water

CuO-ZnO supported gold nanoparticle is introduced as a new, efficient, and recyclable catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols. The CuO-ZnO support was prepared by co-precipitation and Au nanoparticles were loaded on support by a deposition-precipitation method. The catalyst was characterized by XRD, BET surface area, FESEM, EDS and HRTEM techniques. A wide range of alcohols, including benzylic, primary and secondary alcohols are converted into the corresponding carbonyl derivatives. The experimental procedure with Au/CuO-ZnO catalyst is quite straightforward and the catalyst is recyclable up to 6 consecutive runs by simple filtration. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.