With an increase in awareness about the need for green chemistry, there is a shift in focus towards identifying eco‐compatible technologies that can improve product yield and eliminate the use or generation of hazardous compounds. An immediate practical example of such an approach is the development of sustainable methods for alcohol oxidation as alternatives to the current processes that are energy intensive and rely on ecotoxic chemicals. In this regard, heterogeneous photocatalysis has been identified as a robust technique to catalyze reactions under benign conditions, which would otherwise require harsh synthesis routes. With the advent of materials sciences and nanotechnology, there has been a tremendous increase in the scope of applicability of photocatalysis in fine chemicals synthesis. Though an attractive choice, much of the fundamental information pertaining to catalyst activity, selectivity and reaction conditions for optimum conversion are still to be investigated for most of these systems. To this end, this review will encompass recent achievements in the selective photocatalytic oxidation of alcohols by harnessing solar radiation as a viable source of energy. The discussion will be arranged based on common types of photocatalysts reported in literature, namely metal oxides (eg, TiO₂ and ZnO, Nb₂O₅), sulphides (eg, CdS, CuS, and Bi₂S₃), and carbonaceous photocatalysts (eg, g‐C₃N₄). Several such candidates for photocatalysts will be discussed critically with the aim of providing useful insight into developing selective photocatalysts that can oxidize alcohols via eco‐friendly pathways along with high yields.

中文翻译：

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用于将醇选择性氧化为羰基化合物的高性能光催化剂

随着人们对绿色化学需求的认识不断提高，人们已将重点转移到确定可提高产品产量并消除有害化合物的使用或产生的生态兼容技术上。这种方法的一个直接的实际例子是开发可持续的酒精氧化方法，以替代目前耗能高，依赖于生态毒性化学物质的现有工艺。在这方面，已经将异质光催化识别为在良性条件下催化反应的可靠技术，否则将需要苛刻的合成路线。随着材料科学和纳米技术的出现，光催化在精细化学合成中的适用范围已大大增加。虽然是一个有吸引力的选择，对于大多数这些系统，仍需要研究与催化剂活性，选择性和最佳转化反应条件有关的许多基本信息。为此，本综述将涵盖通过利用太阳辐射作为一种可行的能源在醇的选择性光催化氧化方面的最新成就。将根据文献中报道的常见类型的光催化剂，即金属氧化物（例如TiO2）来安排讨论。₂和ZnO，Nb ₂ O ₅），硫化物（例如CdS，CuS和Bi ₂ S ₃）和碳质光催化剂（例如g- C ₃ N ₄）。将对几种此类光催化剂候选物进行严格讨论，以期为开发选择性光催化剂提供有用的见解，这些光催化剂可以通过生态友好的途径氧化醇并具有高收率。