Here we report that sulfonated crystal-like benzene–silica is much more robust and active than conventionally used periodic mesoporous silica for catalyzing aqueous organic reactions.

This systematic experimental investigation reveals that high-frequency ultrasound irradiation (550 kHz) induced oxidation of D-glucose to glucuronic acid in excellent yield without assistance of any (bio)catalyst. Oxidation is induced thanks to the in situ production of radical species in water. Experiments show that the dissolved gases play an important role in governing the nature of generated radical species and thus the selectivity for glucuronic acid. Importantly, this process yields glucuronic acid instead of glucuronate salt typically obtained via conventional (bio)catalyst routes, which is of huge interest in respect of downstream processing. Investigations using disaccharides revealed that radicals generated by high frequency ultrasound were also capable of promoting tandem hydrolysis/oxidation reactions.