Catalizzatori a base di oro: preparazione, caratterizzazione ed applicazione nell'ossidazione di composti organici

The PhD thesis deals with the preparation, characterization and application of gold based catalysts in the oxidation of organic compounds, both in liquid and gaseous phase. The application of mono- and bimetallic gold nanoparticles as an aid for organic synthesis has been mainly devoted to the aerobic oxidation of alcohols and aldehydes, as well as to VOCs (volatile organic compounds), thus demonstrating the superior performance of gold in terms of activity, selectivity and durability in comparison with traditional Pd and Pt catalysts. Starting from the observation that oxygen activation towards organic compounds occurs mainly in the presence of nanometric gold clusters, the outstanding properties of colloidal “naked” particles were also discovered. Thorough kinetic studies suggested models for interpreting the aerobic oxidation of glucose, performed either by gold catalysis or the enzyme thereby shedding light on the molecular mechanism.