Surface oxygen-assisted Pd nanoparticle catalysis for selective oxidation of silanes to silanols.

Just add O(2): Based on the fact that an oxygen-adsorbed Pd metal surface shows higher reactivity for water dissociation than a clean Pd surface, carbon-supported Pd nanoparticles (NPs) with surface oxygen atoms were developed as a highly effective and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for selective oxidation of silanes to silanols with water as a green oxidant (see figure).