Oxidation of alcohols with molecular oxygen on solid catalysts

The demand for solid catalysts efficient in the partial oxidation of alcohols for the production of fine and specialty chemicals is growing. Specifically, the use of stoichiometric inorganic reagents is widespread. A review is given of the heterogeneous catalytic methods available for the selective oxidation of alcoholic OH groups to carbonyl or carboxyl functional groups, using molecular oxygen as the only oxidant. It is emphasized that some catalysts possess low activity, and for most reaction types they do not offer a real alternative to the conventional supported Pt-group metals.