Macro- and mesoporous Cu2O/Cu3(OH)2(CO3)2 synthesized by supercritical CO2 as an efficient catalyst for alcohol oxidation

Abstract To develop high-performance catalyst for the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohols to benzyl aldehydes is of great importance. Here we synthesized a novel catalyst of cuprous oxide/basic cuprous carbonate (Cu2O/Cu3(OH)2(CO3)2) composite by supercritical CO2. The two components of Cu2O and Cu3(OH)2(CO3)2 have a synergistic catalytic effect to facilitate the oxidation of alcohol. Moreover, the catalyst has a hierarchically macro- and mesoporous structure, which favors the exposure of active sites, adsorption of reactants on the catalyst surface and mass transfer. Owing to these unique features, the as-synthesized Cu2O/Cu3(OH)2(CO3)2 shows high performance for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzyl aldehyde at 75 °C under atmospheric O2.