Catalysis Letters, Vol.100, No.3-4, 195-199, 2005
Aerobic oxidation of cyclohexane by gold nanoparticles immobilized upon mesoporous silica
A series of highly efficient hybrid gold nanoparticle/mesoporous-silica catalysts were synthesized and employed for the solvent-free aerobic oxidation of cyclohexane to cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone under moderate reaction conditions. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, N-2 adsorption/desorption, TEM and ICP-AES, which shows the active species are monodispersed gold nanoparticles.