Promoting effect of water for aliphatic primary and secondary alcohol oxidation over platinum catalysts in dioxane/aqueous solution media

In the selective oxidation with air of 1-octanol and 2-octanol in 1,4-dioxane at 100 °C and 10 bar in the presence of carbon supported platinum catalysts, the catalytic activity could be impressively boosted by substitution of pure dioxane by increasing amounts of water. Changing the polarity of the solvent strongly influences the adsorption equilibrium of substrates and products at the catalyst surface and hence plays an influential role on the reaction rate.

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► Oxidation of 1-octanol and 2-octanol with air on a Pt/C catalyst.
► Catalytic activity dramatically improved by addition of water to the dioxane solvent.
► Reaction works in water.