scholarly journals Aerobic Methanol Oxidation over Unsupported Nanoporous Gold: The Influence of an Added Base

Catalysts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia Lackmann ◽  
Christoph Mahr ◽  
Andreas Rosenauer ◽  
Marcus Bäumer ◽  
Arne Wittstock

We studied the aerobic oxidation of methanol over nanoporous gold catalysts under neutral and alkaline conditions. We find that under neutral conditions the catalyst has an activation period of about 10 h while upon addition of a base the catalyst becomes active right away. After this activation period, however, the activity of the catalyst is in both cases similar. Moreover, the selectivity was not affected by the base. We tested different bases and found the largest effect when adding OH−. The cation, however, does not play a role. We conclude that it is OH−, which is impacting the reaction and propose a mechanism for the suppression of the activation period. While the catalytic cycle, i.e., the reaction of methanol on the catalyst surface seems unaffected, the transient adsorption of OH− onto the surface can facilitate the activation of molecular oxygen by donating electrons to the surface. Due to the intermediate formation of oxidic Ag species, an effective segregation of surface-near Ag can be induced, which increases the abundance of Ag being essential for the activation of oxygen at the surface. In this way, a more efficient pathway for the generation of active oxygen is opened, allowing the reaction to set in faster.

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 2791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingjing Zheng ◽  
David Julian McClements

Curcumin is a bioactive constituent isolated from turmeric that has historically been used as a seasoning, pigment, and herbal medicine in food. Recently, it has become one of the most commonly studied nutraceuticals in the pharmaceutical, supplement, and food areas because of its myriad of potential health benefits. For instance, it is claimed to exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiparasite, and anticancer activities when ingested as a drug, supplement, or food. Toxicity studies suggest that it is safe to consume, even at relatively high levels. Its broad-spectrum biological activities and low toxicity have meant that it has been widely explored as a nutraceutical ingredient for application in functional foods. However, there are several hurdles that formulators must overcome when incorporating curcumin into commercial products, such as its low water solubility (especially under acidic and neutral conditions), chemical instability (especially under neutral and alkaline conditions), rapid metabolism by enzymes in the human body, and limited bioavailability. As a result, only a small fraction of ingested curcumin is actually absorbed into the bloodstream. These hurdles can be at least partially overcome by using encapsulation technologies, which involve trapping the curcumin within small particles. Some of the most commonly used edible microparticles or nanoparticles utilized for this purpose are micelles, liposomes, emulsions, solid lipid particles, and biopolymer particles. Each of these encapsulation technologies has its own benefits and limitations for particular product applications and it is important to select the most appropriate one.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 878-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beril K. Erdural ◽  
Alp Yurum ◽  
Ufuk Bakir ◽  
Gurkan Karakas

Nanostructured titania particles were synthesized by using hydrothermal processing and the photocatalytic antimicrobial activities were characterized. Both sol–gel synthesized and commercial TiO2 (anatase) samples were processed with two step hydrothermal treatments, under alkaline and neutral conditions. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images showed that alkaline treatment yields nanofibers and lamellar structured particles from the commercial anatase and sol–gel synthesized samples respectively. Further treatment of nanofibers and nanostructured lamellar particles with distilled water results with crystal growth and the formation of nano structured bipyramidal crystalline particles. The photocatalytic antimicrobial activities of the samples were determined against Escherichia coli under irradiation. It was observed that the samples treated under alkaline conditions have improved activity than the original anatase samples. Limited activity and resulting time lag in bacterial inactivation were observed for hydrothermally treated samples with distilled water. However, a post treatment comprising the UV irradiation in aqueous conditions enhanced the photocatalytic activity.


Author(s):  
M. RAVIKANTH ◽  
CATALINA ACHIM ◽  
JOHN S. TYHONAS ◽  
ECKARD MÜNCK ◽  
JONATHAN S. LINDSEY

The aerobic oxidation process for the synthesis of porphyrins, previously performed using 5 mol % p-chloranil (TCQ), 5 mol % iron(II) phthalocyanine ( FePc ) and stoichiometric amounts of O 2, has been refined using new phthalocyanine catalysts. Four phthalocyanine catalysts have been prepared, characterized by Mössbauer spectroscopy and examined for efficacy in the high concentration (0.1 M) synthesis of tetraphenylporphyrin at room temperature. Each phthalocyanine has been identified to be a μ-oxo dimer. Two catalysts are soluble (the μ-oxo dimers [(t-butyl)4 FePc ]2 O and [(n- C 6 H 13 O )4 FePc ]2 O ) and enable homogeneous reactions, while two are insoluble (the μ-oxo(1) and μ-oxo(2) dimers of FePc , ( FePc )2 O ) and give heterogeneous reactions. These four phthalocyanine compounds provide efficient catalysis at the 0.3–1 mol % level using only 1 mol % quinone or hydroquinone ( TCQ , DDQ , TCQH 2 or DDQH 2), affording ~25% yields of tetraphenylporphyrin in 60 min of oxidation. There are no discernible advantages of the homogeneous versus heterogeneous catalysts. The μ-oxo dimers are active, but FePc is inactive, at the 0.3 mol % level. The activity of the FePc sample at the 5 mol % level is attributed to residual μ-oxo dimer impurity. This aerobic oxidation process is superior to stoichiometric oxidation with TCQ or DDQ , and can be performed in the presence of BF 3· O ( Et )2, trifluoroacetic acid, or under neutral conditions.


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