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Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Synthesis and Catalytic Performance of Gold Intercalated in the Walls of Mesoporous Silica
Published on: July 9, 2015
Towards a zero-waste oxidative coupling of nonactivated aromatics by supported gold nanoparticles
1Instituto de Tecnología Química, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Avda. de los Naranjos s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain), Fax: (+34) 96-387-7800. psername@itq.upv.es.
Abstract:
We show that gold nanoparticles are able to perform the direct oxidative coupling of nonactivated aromatics with O2 as the only co-reagent. In this reaction, the aromatic acts both as reactant and solvent. Biphenyl, for example, can be obtained from benzene with high selectivity and a turnover number (TON) of 230 per pass. Similarly, several substituted biaryls can be prepared. Pd performs only one TON and even when a second catalytic functionality is introduced, together with strong acidic conditions, TON is always lower than 100. Other catalysts require iodine for performing the reaction, leading to 2 kg of waste for 1 kg of biphenyl formed, whereas no waste is created by the oxidative coupling with gold nanoparticles.
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