Ag nanoparticle-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohols in basic DMSO gave efficient formation of styryl ethers, featuring single carbon transfer and C═C and C–O bond formation. A deuterium labeling experiment established that DMSO was the carbon source. Further experiments showed the reaction proceeded through a styryl sulfoxide intermediate originating from basic DMSO and transient benzaldehyde. Control reactions in the absence of the Ag NPs or air indicated that oxidation of the styryl sulfoxide was required for the final C–O bond formation. This work demonstrated that metal nanoparticles could be applied to tandem heterogeneous catalysis in organic chemistry.Keywords: aerobic oxidation; Ag nanoparticle; styryl ether; tandem catalysis

We developed a facile strategy to synthesize a series of water-soluble Pt, PtxNi1-x (0 < x < 1), and Ni nanocrystals. The octahedral, truncated octahedral, and cubic shapes were uniformly controlled by varying crystal growth inhibition agents such as benzoic acid, aniline, and carbon monoxide. The compositions of the PtxNi1-x nanocrystals were effectively controlled by choice of ratios between the Pt and Ni precursors. In a preliminary study to probe their structure–activity dependence, we found that the shapes, compositions, and capping agents strongly influence the catalyst performances in three model heterogeneous hydrogenation reactions.