Selective oxidation of glycerol under acidic conditions using gold catalysts

Herein, we report progress towards eliminating the need for a base while maintaining high activity and selectivity for the aqueous-phase oxidation of glycerol.We have discovered that by using the right alloy nanoparticle and support material, we are able to prepare an active and durable catalyst that is highly selective towards the formation of oxidized C3 molecules from glycerol under acidic conditions. This discovery is significant because previous investigations of Pd and Pt catalysts at pH 2–4 reported that the main products derived from these catalysts under acidic conditions are C1 and C2 molecules produced from C C bond scission