Aerobic dehydrogenation of cyclic ketones into corresponding phenols catalyzed by heterogeneous Pd nanocatalysts

The Pd, Ni, Ni-Sn, Cu and Ag@Pd nanocatalyst having different shape and size were used for direct dehydrogenation of cyclic ketones to the corresponding phenols in the presence of O 2 as the oxidant. Among all catalyst tested, metallic Pd-1 nanoparticles exhibited excellent catalytic performance both in presence and absence of p-toluenesulfonic acid. The dehydrogenation of cyclohexanone catalyzed by Pd-1 nanocatalyst led to a 93% yield of the desired cyclohexenone and phenol. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed that there was no change in morphology, crystal phases and particles size of Pd-1 nanocatalyst after the reaction.