Aerobic Oxidation of Alcohols Catalyzed by a New ZnO-Supported Copper Oxide Nanocatalyst in Aqueous Media

ZnO-supported copper oxide nanocatalyst is reported as an efficient recyclable catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols in the presence of oxygen as the oxidant. The catalyst was prepared by coprecipitation method and characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. A variety of primary and secondary alcohols were oxidized into the corresponding carbonyl compounds in good to excellent yields. The catalyst can be recovered by simple filtration and recycled up to five consecutive runs without significant decrease in the catalytic activity.