Selective oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde by Au−Ir catalysts

Au-Ir bimetallic nanoparticles show improved performance in the selective oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde over their monometallic counterparts. The synergy is explained by the contact between vacant Au surface sites for (dissociative) ethanol adsorption and Ir sites covered by O atoms catalyzing C-H bond cleavage to yield acetaldehyde.64