Aerobic Oxidation of Alcohols at Room Temperature and Atmospheric Conditions Catalyzed by Reusable Gold Nanoclusters Stabilized by the Benzene Rings of Polystyrene Derivatives

Lock up your gold: Polymer-incarcerated gold nanoclusters (PI Au) were synthesized by microencapsulation of gold nanoclusters and cross-linking using a copolymer based on polystyrene (see TEM image). The nanoclusters could be used to catalyze the aerobic oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes and ketones under atmospheric conditions at room temperature, and additionally could be reused with little loss of activity.