Selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural over TiO2-supported gold-copper catalysts prepared from preformed nanoparticles: Effect of Au/Cu ratio

5-Hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF) oxidation to furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) was performed under mild reaction conditions using TiO2-supported Au and Au-Cu catalysts synthesized from pre-formed nanoparticles of different composition. Catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD and XPS. The Au3Cu1/TiO2 catalyst exhibited the best catalytic performance for FDCA yield. Moreover, after reaction, bimetallic Au-Cu catalysts with high gold content can be recovered by filtration and reused without significant loss of activity and selectivity; whereas, the monometallic gold materials are not stable. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.