Selective Oxidation of Activated Alcohols by Supported Gold Nanoparticles under an Atmospheric Pressure of O2: Batch and Continuous‐Flow Studies

Abstract In the hunt for a simple, mild, and scalable protocol for gold nanoparticle‐catalyzed oxidation of benzylic and allylic alcohols under O 2 , we have used commercially available gold nanoparticles supported on alumina to selectively oxidize a large range of activated alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds in good yields (68–99 %) and with excellent selectivity (ca. 100 %). The true heterogeneous nature of the catalysis by gold was demonstrated, allowing us to further adapt this protocol to continuous‐flow reactors by using the tube‐in‐tube technology, in which higher yields were obtained thanks to an improved oxygenation of the reaction medium.