Aerobic oxidation of hydroquinone derivatives catalyzed by polymer-incarcerated platinum catalyst

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.200802192

(Chemical Equation Presented) It's a lock-in! A remarkably wide substrate scope of hydroquinones are oxidized to quinones in high yields in a platinum-catalyzed process with as low as 0.05 mol% catalyst. The aerobic oxidation is catalyzed by platinum nanoclusters trapped in a styrene-based polymer network (see scheme, PI Pt=polymer-incarcerated nanoclusters). The catalyst could be reused at least 13 times without any loss of catalytic activity.