Gold nanoparticles deposited on inorganic supports are efficient catalysts for the oxidation of various substituted phenols (2, 6-di-tert-butyl phenol and 2, 3, 6-trimethyl phenol) with aqueous hydrogen peroxide. By contrast to more conventional catalysts such as Ti- containing mesoporous silicas, which convert phenols to the corresponding benzoquinones, gold nanoparticles are very selective to biaryl compounds (3, 3′, 5, 5′-tetra-tert-butyl ...
[Shimizu, Masao; Watanabe, Yoshihito; Orita, Hideo; Hayakawa, Takashi; Takehira, Katsuomi Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan, 1992 , vol. 65, # 6 p. 1522 - 1526]
