Cu nanoclusters supported on nanocrystalline SiO2-MnO2: a bifunctional catalyst for the one-step conversion of glycerol to acrylic acid.

A material consisting of highly dispersed Cu nanoclusters anchored on nanocrystalline SiO2-MnO2 has been prepared, and was found to act as a bifunctional catalyst for the one-step conversion of glycerol to acrylic acid using H2O2. Under optimized conditions a glycerol conversion of 77.1%, with 74.7% selectivity for acrylic acid, was achieved after 30 h reaction time.