Selective oxidation of benzyl alcohols with molecular oxygen as the oxidant using Ag-Cu catalysts supported on polyoxometalates

We report an efficient process for the oxidation of benzyl alcohols using molecular oxygen as the oxidant catalyzed by Ag-Cu catalysts supported on polyoxometalates (Ag-Cu/POM). The Ag-Cu/POM catalyst was prepared by galvanic displacement in the presence of polyvinyl pyrrolidone and polyethylene glycol. The catalysts were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The oxidation reaction was carried out using a Schlenk– line setup, under ambient atmospheric pressure. Reaction products were identified by GC–MS and quantified with GC using an internal standard method. The Ag-Cu/POM catalyst gave close to 100% benzyl alcohol conversion in 5 h with >99% selectivity to benzaldehyde. When tested on various benzyl alcohol derivatives the Ag-Cu catalysts showed good conversions and >99% selectivity to the corresponding aldehydes. The Ag-Cu catalysts supported on the POM are highly stable, and don't show tendency to leach or deactivate. The catalysts are heterogeneous in nature and easy to recover after reactions, and could be reused at least 5 times without significant loss in activity and selectivity

Degradation and resilience in Louisiana salt marshes after the BP–Deepwater Horizon oil spill

More than 2 y have passed since the BP–Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, yet we still have little understanding of its ecological impacts. Examining effects of this oil spill will generate much-needed insight into how shoreline habitats and the valuable ecological services they provide (e.g., shoreline protection) are affected by and recover from large-scale disturbance. Here we report on not only rapid salt-marsh recovery (high resilience) but also permanent marsh area loss after the BP–Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Field observations, experimental manipulations, and wave-propagation modeling reveal that (i) oil coverage was primarily concentrated on the seaward edge of marshes; (ii) there were thresholds of oil coverage that were associated with severity of salt-marsh damage, with heavy oiling leading to plant mortality; (iii) oil-driven plant death on the edges of these marshes more than doubled rates of shoreline erosion, further driving marsh platform loss that is likely to be permanent; and (iv) after 18 mo, marsh grasses have largely recovered into previously oiled, noneroded areas, and the elevated shoreline retreat rates observed at oiled sites have decreased to levels at reference marsh sites. This paper highlights that heavy oil coverage on the shorelines of Louisiana marshes, already experiencing elevated retreat because of intense human activities, induced a geomorphic feedback that amplified this erosion and thereby set limits to the recovery of otherwise resilient vegetation. It thus warns of the enhanced vulnerability of already degraded marshes to heavy oil coverage and provides a clear example of how multiple human-induced stressors can interact to hasten ecosystem decline.

Rapid Degradation of <i>Deepwater Horizon</i> Spilled Oil by Indigenous Microbial Communities in Louisiana Saltmarsh Sediments

The <i>Deepwater Horizon</i> oil spill led to the severe contamination of coastal environments in the Gulf of Mexico. A previous study detailed coastal saltmarsh erosion and recovery in a number of oil-impacted and nonimpacted reference sites in Barataria Bay, Louisiana over the first 18 months after the spill. Concentrations of alkanes and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at oil-impacted sites significantly decreased over this time period. Here, a combination of DNA, lipid, and isotopic approaches confirm that microbial biodegradation was contributing to the observed petroleum mass loss. Natural abundance ¹⁴C analysis of microbial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) reveals that petroleum-derived carbon was a primary carbon source for microbial communities at impacted sites several months following oil intrusion when the highest concentrations of oil were present. Also at this time, microbial community analysis suggests that community structure of all three domains has shifted with the intrusion of oil. These results suggest that Gulf of Mexico marsh sediments have considerable biodegradation potential and that natural attenuation is playing a role in impacted sites