Inside Cover: Effects of Au Loading and CO2 Addition on Photocatalytic Selective Phenol Oxidation over TiO2-Supported Au Nanoparticles (ChemCatChem 3/2013).

Selective oxidation The inside cover picture shows a mystique of TiO2‐supported Au nanoparticles as a photocatalyst for partial oxidations of organic substrates under sunlight irradiation and a CO2 atmosphere. In their Full Paper on p. 766 ff., Y. Ide et al. describe how the photocatalytic oxidation of aqueous phenol to hydroquinone on the catalyst under sunlight is modified to give a higher yield and selectivity if the reaction is conducted under a CO2 atmosphere. Au loading causes neither the visible light response nor the improved UV light‐induced charge separation efficiency of TiO2. A unique role of Au loading in the photocatalysis is proposed; Au nanoparticle loading drastically decreases the amount of the surface titanol, promoting the desorption of the product hydroquinone from the catalyst surface, especially if CO2 is present in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]