Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Amorphous, nonporous silica/alumina (SA) made by flame-spray pyrolysis (FSP) efficiently catalyzes the direct conversion of phenylglyoxal (PG) to alkyl mandelates. The SAs exhibited a turnover frequency more than an order of magnitude higher than dealuminated zeolite Y, which hitherto has been considered as the most active solid acid for this reaction. The free diffusion of PG to surface acid sites and rapid removal of mandelate products are proposed to be at the origin of the superior performance of SAs. The recyclability of the catalyst was tested in five repetitive runs and showed no significant loss of catalyst performance.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Wang et al. (2013) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: