Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Synthesis of Zeolites Using the ADOR Assembly-Disassembly-Organization-Reassembly Route
Published on: April 3, 2016
Synthesis of benzaldehyde with high selectivity using immobilized AuNPs and AuNPs@zeolite in a catalytic microfluidic
Xi Rao1, Ali Abou Hassan2, Cédric Guyon3
1Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, School of Materials and Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P.R. China. raoxiemail@swu.edu.cn and Chimie ParisTech, PSL University, CNRS, Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris, 75005, Paris, France and School of Materials Science and Engineering and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Advanced Metallic Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, China.
Abstract:
In the present work, gold based catalysts were synthesized and immobilized on the surface of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) microreactors. The microreactors were subsequently applied in a homemade microfluidic system for synthesizing benzaldehyde by oxidation of benzyl alcohol in water medium. The Au nanoparticles (NPs) immobilized on the inner surface of the microchannel showed a very high selectivity (94%) for benzaldehyde, while zeolite NPs exhibited only an adsorption feature to this reaction. Moreover, the results showed that the AuNP catalytic activity was maintained for at least 9 hours. However, the obtained conversion with AuNPs was only 20%, indicating a relatively low productivity. In comparison, AuNPs assembled on the surface of zeolite NPs (AuNPs@zeolite) and immobilized in the microchannel showed the best catalytic performance, as the highest benzaldehyde selectivity (>99%) with a relatively high benzyl alcohol conversion of 42.4% was achieved under the same conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example demonstrating the use of AuNP or AuNP@zeolite catalysts in a microsystem performing such high selectivity for benzaldehyde in water medium.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Transfer RNA Synthesis
Each of these chemical modifications is carried by a specific enzyme, post-transcription. All of these enzymes have unique base and site-specificity. Methylation, the most common chemical modification, is carried by at least nine different enzymes, with...
Turnover Number and Catalytic Efficiency
Chymotrypsin is a pancreatic enzyme that breaks down proteins during digestion....
Catalytically Perfect Enzymes
Most enzymes...
Reduction of Benzene to Cyclohexane: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Reduction of Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Metals like palladium, platinum, and nickel are commonly used in their solid forms — fine powder on an inert surface. As these catalysts remain insoluble in the reaction mixture, they are referred to as heterogeneous catalysts.
The hydrogenation process takes place on the...
Dehydration Synthesis
Dehydration synthesis (also called a condensation reaction) is the chemical process in which two molecules covalently link together to form a new molecule, along with the release of a water molecule. Many physiologically important compounds form by dehydration synthesis reactions, such as complex carbohydrates, proteins, DNA, and RNA.
Synthesis of carbohydrates
Sugar molecules are covalently linked together by dehydration synthesis. During the reaction, the hydroxyl (-OH) group from...

