Oxidative esterification of ethylene glycol in methanol to form methyl glycolate over supported Au catalysts

Au/ZnO and Au/Al2O3 catalysts with various mean Au particle diameters (2.0–7.4 nm) were prepared by the deposition of pre-formed Au colloids. These catalysts were evaluated in the oxidative esterification of ethylene glycol to methyl glycolate. The results show that the catalytic activity per surface Au atom is independent of Au particle diameter in the range of 3–7.4 nm, whereas smaller Au particles (~2.0 nm) show an inferior activity. This behavior was observed on both Au/ZnO and Au/Al2O3 catalysts. This observed correlation between activity and Au particle diameter confirms the assertion that only exposed atoms are catalytically active. We prepared gold nanoparticles with a uniform mean diameter of ~3 nm loaded on various supports, i.e. ZnO, Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2 and CeO2. Among these five catalysts, Au/ZnO gave the best catalytic activity in the reaction followed by Au/Al2O3. Au/SiO2, Au/TiO2 and Au/CeO2 gave significantly lower activities. The variation in catalytic behavior of these gold catalysts on different supports originates from differences in the anchoring of the supported Au particles, the gold oxidation state, the gold–support interaction, and the acidity of the support.