Abstract
We report the solvent-free oxidation of 1-hexene with air by using supported gold catalysts with a catalytic amount of tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as initiator. We confirm that gold supported on graphite is an effective catalyst for such oxidations and that graphite was the preferred support. Preparation of catalysts using modified sol-immobilisation was found to be effective, particularly when the PVA stabiliser was removed by a solvent treatment prior to the reaction.