A Convenient Surfactant‐Mediated Hydrothermal Approach to Control Supported Copper Oxide Species for Catalytic Upgrading of Glucose to Lactic Acid

Abstract Herein, we discuss a convenient surfactant‐mediated hydrothermal approach to control supported copper oxide species in a highly reproducible way and investigate their effect on the catalytic upgrading of glucose to lactic acid. Careful characterization using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and temperature programmed reduction (TPR) studies revealed paramelaconite (Cu₄O₃) loaded on MgO as the catalytically active species. It was also found that the cuprite (Cu₂O) phase can be prepared in the presence of N,N‐dimethyldodecylamine N‐oxide (DDAO) while the tenorite (CuO) phase was obtained in the absence of surfactant. The use of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) selectively gave the Cu₄O₃ phase as the supported species. The above‐mentioned systematic approach demonstrates that substantial improvement in the catalytic activity (or other properties) can be achieved by careful selection of the synthetic conditions for generation of desired Cu species through a simple and inexpensive preparation route.