Graphene Oxide as Catalyst: Application of Carbon Materials beyond Nanotechnology

More hip than nano: Bielawski and co-workers recently demonstrated the remarkable ability of graphene oxide to catalyze the oxidation of a variety of alcohols to the corresponding ketones/aldehydes, alkenes to the corresponding diones, and alkynes to the corresponding hydrates—a process they termed “carbocatalysis”. These efficient metal-free reactions mark a promising convergence of heterogeneous catalysis with graphene science.