Au/ZrO 2 catalyst prepared from Au 25 (SG) 18 nanoclusters (SG stands for glutathione) deposited on ZrO 2 has shown to be an efficient system for the oxidative esterification of furfural with methanol. The influence of the supported nanoclusters was studied and showed that partial calcination of the supported nanoclusters at 300 °C was sufficient for a quantitative formation of methyl-2-furoate even in the absence of a base. In the presence of 0.27 mol% of Au, initial activities up to 250 h -1 were obtained at 100 °C under 6 bar of O 2 .The reactivity was extended to the oxidative esterification of furfuryl alcohol and the formation of various products and intermediates was discussed.

Au25(SG)18 (SG – glutathione) clusters deposited on ZrO2 nanoparticles have been used as a catalyst for benzyl alcohol oxidation. Calcination was performed at different temperatures to study the ligand and particle size effect on the catalytic activity. In contrast to most gold nanoclusters which have to be completely defunctionalized for maximum catalytic activity, the partially defunctionalized Au25(SG)18@ZrO2 catalyst, thermally treated at 300 °C, exhibits full conversion of benzyl alcohol within 15 h under atmospheric pressure with 94% selectivity towards benzaldehyde.

A highly porous carbon was synthesized using a coordination complex as an unusual precursor. During controlled pyrolysis, a trinuclear copper complex, [CuCl(HL)]·CHOH, undergoes phase changes with melt and expulsion of different gases to produce a unique morphology of copper-doped carbon which, upon acid treatment, produces highly porous graphitic carbon with a surface area of 857 m g and a gravimetric hydrogen uptake of 1.1 wt % at 0.5 bar pressure at 77 K.