Abstract
There remains considerable debate over the active form of gold under operating conditions of a recently validated gold catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination. We have performed an in situ x-ray absorption fine structure study of gold/carbon (Au/C) catalysts under acetylene hydrochlorination reaction conditions and show that highly active catalysts comprise single-site cationic Au entities whose activity correlates with the ratio of Au(I):Au(III) present. We demonstrate that these Au/C catalysts are supported analogs of single-site homogeneous Au catalysts and propose a mechanism, supported by computational modeling, based on a redox couple of Au(I)-Au(III) species.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1399-1403 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Science |
Volume | 355 |
Issue number | 6332 |
Early online date | 31 Mar 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 31 Mar 2017 |