Gold based bimetallic catalysts for liquid phase applications

Abstract

The liquid phase oxidation of D-Sorbitol has been carried out in water using oxygen as the oxidant in the presence of gold based catalyst. Au/C, Pt/C and Pd/C monometallic systems were compared to bimetallic Au/Pd and Au/Pt on carbon. A strong synergistic effect was observed producing a significant increase of reaction rate. Moreover, the addition of gold to Pd or Pt catalyst produced a system more resistant to oxygen poisoning allowing it to work also under a moderate pressure. The effect of varying the molar ratio of the metals has also been studied.