Benzyl alcohol is oxidized selectively to benzaldehyde with high yield, with a little formation of benzylbenzoate, by molecular oxygen over a reusable nano-size gold catalyst supported on U 3 O 8 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 or ZrO 2 in the absence of any solvent.Liquid phase oxidation of benzyl alcohol is an important preferred reaction practically for the production of chlorine-free benzaldehyde, without loss of carbon in the form of CO 2 (a geenhouse gas). The preparation of benzaldehyde by reacting benzyl alcohol with stoichiometric or excess amounts of potassium or ammonium permanganate in aqueous acidic medium 1 is not environmentally benign at all, because of the formation of a large amount of toxic waste. A few studies on the benzyl alcoholto-benzaldehyde oxidation by H 2 O 2 or O 2 in the presence of organic solvent, using different solid catalysts, such as Pd/C, 2 Pd(II) hydrotalcite, 3 Pd-Ag/pumice, 4 Ru-Co-Al hydrotalcite, 5 Ni-containing hydrotalcite 6,7 and nano-size NiO 2, 8 have been

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Two Ziegler−Natta catalysts supported on molecularadducts, namely, MgCl2·6EtOH (ME) and MgCl2·5EtOH·EtOOCPh (Est-ME), have been prepared. A systematic effort has been made to unravel the molecular level structure−property relationships of the catalysts and adducts. Ethylbenzoate is an internal electron donor, and its in situ formation through EtOH + PhCOCl coupling is successfully achieved. The above adduct has been treated with TiCl4, and the resultant catalyst (Ti/Est-ME) is evaluated for ethylene polymerization activity. IR and 13C CP/MAS NMR of Est-ME (Ti/Est-ME) show carbonyl features at 1730 (1680) cm−1 and 169 (170) δ, respectively, providing direct support for the presence of ester as an integral part. In spite of low surface area, Ti/Est-ME gives higher yield for ethylene polymerization than the one derived from ME. The results indicate that electronic environment is more important than surface area or any other single factor in determining the polymerization activity.

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