Heterogeneous catalysts comprising silver nanoparticles supported on nanostructured tungsten oxide were applied for room temperature oxidative coupling of aniline to azoxybenzene, an important chemical intermediate and a chemical of industrial interest. The catalytic protocol features high activity and selectivity to the target product azoxybenzene with a turnover number of ∼368. The catalyst was characterized by XRD, XPS, ICP-AES, FT-IR, TGA, EXAFS, SEM and TEM. The silver-tungsten nanomaterial acts as an excellent catalyst for selective oxidation of aniline to azoxybenzene using H2O2 as an oxidant. An aniline conversion of 87% with 91% selectivity of azoxybenzene was achieved without the use of any external additives. Moreover, a high stability and recyclability of the catalyst is also observed under the investigated conditions.
