Recent Developments in Gold Nanomaterial Catalysts for Oxidation Reaction through Green and Sustainable Routes - Advanced Materials for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Safety - page 197

but also exploitation of the redox chemistry and acid-base bifunctionality on the
catalyst surface. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to explore the chemical
property of supported gold nanoparticles, which might be helpful to apply these
advanced materials for physical and biological purposes.
Keywords: Gold nanoparticles, catalyst, green and sustainable methods
8.1 Introduction
In recent years, the science of chemistry has mostly focused on the problems
facing the environment. An emphasis on the emerging area of green chem-
istry is needed in the design and attainment of sustainable development. h e
international union of pure and applied chemistry has been playing a role
in advancing and promoting the continuing emergence and impact of green
chemistry. h e term green chemistry, as adopted by the Working Party, is
dei ned as: “h e invention, design and application of chemical products and
processes to reduce or to eliminate the use and generation of hazardous sub-
stances.” h e adoption of green chemistry as one of the primary methods
of pollution prevention is a fairly recent phenomenon. Paul Anastas coined
the term “green chemistry” in order to focus attention on an area of research
and development that was undergoing rapid expansion and that was
increasingly characterized by the emergence of distinctive objectives and
principles [1]. Despite remarkable scientii c achievements and successful
industrial applications of several technologies, some processes still produce
large amounts of coproduct, which is not desirable from an economical and
environmental point of view. Oxidation reaction is an important reaction
for the production of huge quantities of ingredients and monomers which
are important in diverse areas of human life. Beside this, it has become very
clear that the impact of this production on the environment might have
been much greater than it is if a considerable ef ort had not been spent on
the continuous improvement of the oxidation technologies—by replacing
toxic or dangerous reactants, by developing more ei cient systems for heat
recovery and for energy integration in the plant, and by minimizing waste
streams. To reach the ultimate goal of a sustainable oxidation process, the
scientii c community has been focusing on oxidation reaction which must
be carried out by maintaining the following conditions [2]:
• h e reaction must be single-step and/or solvent-free;
• mild reaction conditions must be used, ideally involving
benign reactant and benign catalyst;