On the role of ruthenium associated with Pd and/or Bi in carbon-supported catalysts for the partial oxidation of glucose Original Research Article

The role of ruthenium when associated with Pd and/or Bi in carbon-supported catalysts for the selective oxidation of d-glucose in aqueous phase was investigated. It was found that ruthenium does not have an activity by itself, but acts as a “promoter” for the catalytic activity of monometallic Pd/C catalysts. Catalysts containing bismuth in association with ruthenium displayed a catalytic activity only when the temperature was raised above 60 °C, but to produce essentially glucuronic and oxalic acid. When incorporated into bimetallic Pd-Bi/C catalysts, Ru was shown to exert a slightly inhibitory effect on the production of gluconic acid. In contrast with Bi, which was found to leach as in previous studies, no significant Ru leaching was observed under the reaction conditions.