Selective aerobic oxidation of methanol in the coexistence of amines by nanoporous gold catalysts: highly efficient synthesis of formamides.

Holey gold: Highly selective aerobic oxidation of methanol over alkylamines was achieved with a reusable nanoporous gold (AuNPore) catalyst that was fabricated from a Au-Ag alloy. This excellent chemoselectivity enabled direct N-formylation of alkylamines from a mixture of methanol and amines. The remarkable catalytic activity was attributed to the synergistic effect between gold and the residual silver remaining in the AuNPore.