1. Unraveling the mechanism of the oxidation of glycerol to dicarboxylic acids over a sonochemically synthesized copper oxide catalyst
- Author
-
Jithin John Varghese, Ronan Behling, Quang Thang Trinh, Sabine Valange, Prince Nana Amaniampong, Samir H. Mushrif, François Jérôme, Institut de Chimie des Milieux et Matériaux de Poitiers (IC2MP), Université de Poitiers-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Nanyang Technological University [Singapour]
- Subjects
inorganic chemicals ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Copper oxide ,Aqueous solution ,010405 organic chemistry ,Chemistry ,chemistry.chemical_element ,[CHIM.CATA]Chemical Sciences/Catalysis ,010402 general chemistry ,01 natural sciences ,7. Clean energy ,Pollution ,Oxygen ,Combinatorial chemistry ,0104 chemical sciences ,Catalysis ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Dicarboxylic acid ,Yield (chemistry) ,Glycerol ,Environmental Chemistry ,Hydrogen peroxide ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS - Abstract
The utilization of low frequency ultrasound (US) offers a straightforward and powerful tool for the production of nanostructured materials, in particular for structurally stable, highly crystalline, and shape-controlled catalytic materials. Herein, we report an unconventional strategy for the synthesis of CuO nanoleaves within 5 min of US irradiation. The as-obtained CuO nanoleaves were found to be selective in the base-free aqueous oxidation of glycerol to dicarboxylic acids (78% yield of tartronic and oxalic acids), in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and under mild reaction conditions. Density Functional Theory (DFT) investigations revealed a synergy between the CuO catalyst and H2O2 in maintaining the structural integrity of the catalyst during the reaction, creating alternative efficient pathways for the selective formation of dicarboxylic acids. Isotope labeling experiments using H218O2 further confirmed that oxygen from hydrogen peroxide, not from CuO, was preferentially incorporated into the dicarboxylic acid, significantly preserving the monoclinic structure of the CuO catalyst.
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF