Au/SiO2 as a highly active catalyst for the selective oxidation of silanes to silanols

Abstract

Au/SiO₂, which was prepared properly to have a high dispersion of gold nanoparticles, acts as an extremely active catalyst for the selective oxidation of a variety of silanes. It outperforms other reducible oxide supported gold catalysts thanks to the affinity of the silica support to the silane substrate.