Porous Organic Zirconium Phosphonate as Efficient Catalysts for the Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation of Ethyl Levulinate to γ‐Valerolactone without External Hydrogen

Organic hybrid zirconium phosphonate materials (ZrATMP, ZrEDTMPS, ZrDTPMPA, and ZrHEDP) were synthesized through reaction of organic phosphonic acid sodium salt and ZrOCl₂ in water, which exhibited high catalytic activity on the conversion of ethyl levulinate (EL) to γ‐valerolactone (GVL) in the presence of isopropanol. The obtained catalysts were characterized by FT‐IR, TGA, XRD, BET, XPS, ICP‐AES, SEM, TEM, NH₃‐TPD, and CO₂‐TPD. The results demonstrate that the number of acid sites and basic sites between the layers of the catalysts play a very important role in promoting the conversion of EL to GVL and that the functional groups that exist in phosphates could regulate the number of acid and basic sites. Meanwhile, the catalysts could be easily separated from the reaction system and reused at least five times without any obvious decrease in activity or selectivity.     

Efficient Liquid‐Phase Oxidation of Diphenylmethane to Benzophenone over Vanadium‐Containing MCM‐41 Catalysts

The liquid‐phase oxidation of diphenylmethane with tert‐butylhydroperoxide has been studied using vanadium‐containing MCM‐41 materials, which were prepared by direct hydrothermal (V‐MCM‐41) and wet impregnation (V/MCM‐41) methods. These catalysts were characterized in detail by ICP‐AES, N₂‐sorption, XRD, FT‐IR, ²⁹Si and ⁵¹V NMR, TPD of ammonia, TPR of hydrogen, and chemisorption of oxygen. Both series of catalyst show good catalytic results, which are attributed to their highly ordered mesoporous structure, large BET surface area as well as the presence of easily accessible vanadium‐oxygen species as active centers in the catalyst. Further, V‐MCM‐41 exhibit superior catalytic activity (based on turnover number) than V/MCM‐41 mainly due to well‐dispersed tetrahedral vanadium‐oxygen species with higher oxidation ability. The effect of reaction parameters, i.e., temperature, time, solvent, etc. were investigated. Catalyst recycling test reveals good stability with only slight extent of leaching during the reaction.     

Dehydration of Castor Oil over NaHSO4/MCM‐41 Catalyst Modified by n‐Dodecyltriethoxysilane

n‐Dodecyltriethoxysilane (DTEOS) modified NaHSO₄/MCM‐41 catalysts (silanized catalysts) were synthesized by different impregnation sequences and evaluated in the liquid‐phase dehydration of castor oil. The samples were evaluated by X‐ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption‐desorption, SEM, TEM, FT‐IR spectroscopy, XPS, ²⁹Si MAS NMR spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, NH₃‐TPD, and pyridine‐FT‐IR spectroscopy. The analyses demonstrated that silanization enhanced the hydrophobicity of the catalysts, and the impregnation sequence of silanized catalysts had a significant effect on the NaHSO₄ dispersion, surface area, acid distribution, and hydrophobicity of the silanized catalysts. The catalytic activity of the silanized catalysts was much higher than that of NaHSO₄/MCM‐41. Among the silanized catalysts, the catalyst prepared by simultaneous impregnation with DTEOS and NaHSO₄ showed the highest iodine value of 141.8 [g(I₂) per 100 g] and lowest hydroxyl value of 11.3 [mg(KOH) · g^–1].     

Catalytic transfer hydrogenation of furfural into furfuryl alcohol over Ni–Fe‐layered double hydroxide catalysts

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and their derivatives have been reported to be widely used as heterogeneous catalysts in various reactions. Herein, Ni‐Fe LDHs with the controlled Ni/Fe molar ratios (2:1, 3:1, 4:1) were synthesized via an easy hydrothermal method, which were used to catalyze the selective reduction of biomass‐derived furfural into furfuryl alcohol using 2‐propanol as a H‐donor under autogenous pressure and characterized using FT‐IR, XRD, TGA, BET, SEM, NH₃‐TPD, and CO₂‐TPD. It was found that the LDH with a Ni/Fe molar ratio of 3:1 demonstrated the best catalytic activity among the LDHs with different Ni/Fe molar ratios, which showed 97.0% conversion of furfural and 90.2% yield of furfuryl alcohol at 140°C for 5 hr. This was attributable to the synergistic effect of acidic sites and basic sites of the catalyst.     

Research on the direct amination of benzene to aniline by NiAlPO4–5 catalyst

A series of NiAlPO₄–5 molecular sieves have been hydrothermally synthesized and shown high and stable activity in the direct amination of benzene to aniline with hydroxylamine hydrochloride as aminating agent. The as‐synthesized and calcined samples were investigated with XRD, SEM, TG, BET, NH₃‐TPD and FT‐IR to explore the crystalline, coordination and location of the incorporated transition metal ions. The results indicated that nickel ions were incorporated into the framework of AlPO₄–5 and the as‐synthesized catalysts were highly crystalline, and possessed good thermal stability. Among them, Ni(0.3)AlPO₄–5 showed the highest catalytic activity for the direct amination of benzene with the highest aniline yield of 73.2% and 100.0% selectivity to aniline. After the catalyst was reused for 5 times, the activity remained little change.     

Preparation,characterization and application of silica‐supported palladium complex as a new and heterogeneous catalyst for Suzuki and Sonogashira reactions

An efficient heterogeneous Pd catalytic system has been developed, based on immobilization of Pd nanoparticles (PNPs) on a silica‐bonded propylamine–cyanuric–cysteine (SiO₂–pA–Cyan–Cys) substrate. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, FT‐IR, N₂ adsorption analysis (BET), TGA and inductively coupled plasma/atomic emission spectroscopy, and catalytic activity of this catalyst was investigated in the Suzuki and Sonogashira cross‐coupling reactions. The catalysts showed excellent performance in these two reactions, including various aryl halide derivatives (except aryl chloride derivatives) with phenylboronic acid and phenylacetylene under green conditions. Moreover, the catalyst was recycled for several runs without any significant loss of catalytic activity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tungsten doped mesoporous SBA‐16 as novel heterogeneous catalysts for oxidation of cyclopentene to glutaric acid

Novel heterogeneous tungsten species in mesoporous silica SBA‐16 catalysts based on ship‐in‐a‐bottle methodology are originally reported for oxidizing cyclopentene (CPE) to glutaric acid (GAC) using hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). For all W‐SBA‐16 catalysts, isolated tungsten species and octahedrally coordinated tungsten oxide species are observed while WO₃ crystallites are detected for the W‐SBA‐16 catalysts with Si/ W = 5, 10, and 20. The specific surface areas and the corresponding total pore volumes decrease significantly as increasing amounts of tungsten incorporated into the pores of SBA‐16. Using tungsten‐substituted mesoporous SBA‐16 heterogeneous catalysts, high yield of GAC (55%) is achieved with low tungsten loading (for Si/W = 30, ~13 wt%) for oxidation of CPE. The W‐SBA‐16 catalysts with Si/W = 30 can be reused five times without dramatic deactivation. In fact, low catalytic activity provided by bulk WO₃ implies that the highly distributed tungsten species in SBA‐16 and the steric confinement effect of SBA‐16 are key elements for the outstanding catalytic performance.     

Selective CO methanation over amorphous Ni-Ru-B/ZrO2 catalyst for hydrogen-rich gas purification

Amorphous Ni-Ru-B/ZrO₂ catalysts were prepared by chemical reduction method. The effects of Ni-Ru-B loading and Ru/Ni mole ratio on the catalytic performance for selective CO methanation from reformed fuel were studied, and the catalysts were characterized by BET, ICP, XRD and TPD. The results showed that Ru strongly affected the catalytic activity and selectivity by increasing the thermal stability of amorphous structure, promoting the dispersion of the catalyst particle, and intensifying the CO adsorption. For the catalysts with Ru/Ni mole ratio under 0.15, the CO methanation conversion and selectivity increased significantly with the increasing Ru/Ni mole ratio. Among all the catalysts investigated, the 30 wt% Ni-Ru-B loading amorphous Ni₆₁Ru₉B₃₀/ZrO₂ catalyst with 0.15 Ru/Ni mole ratio presented the best catalytic performance, over which higher than 99.9% of CO conversion was obtained in the temperature range of 230°C～250°C, and the CO₂ conversion was kept under the level of 0.9%.     

Praseodymium Oxide Modified CeO2/Al2O3 Catalyst for Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO by NH3

A series of CeO₂/Al₂O₃ catalysts was modified with praseodymium oxide using an extrusion method. The catalytic activities of the obtained catalysts were measured for the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH₃ to screen suitable addition of praseodymium oxide. These samples were characterized by XRD, N₂‐BET, NH₃‐TPD, NO‐TPD, Py‐IR, H₂‐TPR, Raman spectra and XPS, respectively. Results showed the optimal catalyst with the Pr/Ce molar ratio of 0.10 exhibited more than 90% NO conversion in a wide temperature range of 290–425°C under GHSV of 5000 h^?1. The number of Lewis acid sites and the chemisorbed oxygen concentration of the catalysts would increase with the Pr incorporation, which was favorable for the excellent catalytic performance. In addition, the Pr incorporation inhibited growth of the Al₂O₃ crystal particles and led to the lattice expansion of CeO₂, which increased catalytic activity. The results implied that the higher chemisorbed oxygen concentrations and the more Lewis acid sites were conductive to obtain the excellent SCR activity.     

Activity of Rh-containing catalysts in naphthalene hydrogenation under pressure

Sol-gel method was used for the preparation of titania. A series of sulfated titania catalysts with different sulfate loadings were prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction, FTIR, UV-VIS DRS, TGA, BET surface area and pore volume. The acidity of these systems was determined by TPD of ammonia. Sulfate ion impregnation decreases the crystallite size and stabilizes the anatase phase of TiO₂. Surface area was found to increase with the sulfate loading. FTIR results show strong bidentate bridge of sulfate species. The catalytic performance of TiO₂/SO₄ ^2- for liquid phase benzylation of toluene was studied. It was found that the conversion increases with sulfate loading. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

MCM‐41 Immobilized Acidic Functional Ionic Liquid and Chromium(III) Complexes Catalyzed Conversion of Hexose into 5‐Hydroxymethylfurfural

The development of novel methods to obtain biofuels and chemicals from biomass has been an immediate issue in both academic and industrial communities. In this work, a series of novel catalysts were prepared and characterized by FT‐IR , TGA , XRD , SEM , TEM , ICP‐AES , NH₃‐TPD and BET , which were applied for the conversion of hexose to 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF ). The Cr(Salten)‐MCM ‐41‐[(CH₂ )₃SO₃HVIm ]HSO₄ catalyst was the most active catalyst, and a glucose conversion of 99.8% with 50.2% HMF yield was obtained at 140 °C for 4 h in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO ). The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, solvents and catalyst dosages were investigated in detail. MCM ‐41 immobilized acidic functional ionic liquid and chromium(III ) Schiff base complexes as heterogeneous catalysts can be easily recovered by simple filter treatment, exhibiting excellent stability and activity towards hexose conversion. Thus the heterogeneous catalysts were environment‐friendly for transforming biomass carbohydrates into fine chemicals.     

Metallic nickel supported on mesoporous silica as catalyst for hydrodeoxygenation: effect of pore size and structure

Catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of anisole, a methoxy-rich lignin-derived bio-oil model compound, was carried out over a series of Ni-containing (5, 10, 20, and 30 wt%) catalysts with commercial silica and ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15 as support. Both supports and catalysts were characterized by N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms, X-ray diffraction, CO chemisorption, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Catalytic reaction was performed at 250 °C and 10 bar H₂ pressure. Depending on the catalyst support used and the content of active metal, the catalytic activity and product distribution changed drastically. Increase of the nickel loading resulted in increased anisole conversion and C₆ hydrocarbon (benzene and cyclohexane) yield. However, loading more Ni than 20 wt% resulted in a decrease of both conversion and C₆ yield due to agglomeration of Ni particles. In addition, Ni/SBA-15 samples exhibited much stronger catalytic activity and selectivity toward C₆ hydrocarbon products compared with Ni/silica catalysts. The differences in catalytic activity among these catalysts can be attributed to the effect of the pore size and pore structure of mesoporous SBA-15. SBA-15 can accommodate more Ni species inside channels than conventional silica due to its high pore volume with uniform pore structure, leading to high HDO catalytic activity.     

Photocatalytic Degradation of Imidacloprid by Phosphotungstic Acid Supported on a Mesoporous Sieve MCM‐41

Solid catalysts consisting of polyoxometalates (POM) namely phosphotungstic acid H₃PW₁₂O₄₀ (HPW) supported on a mesoporous sieve MCM‐41 have been prepared and characterized by FT‐IR, X‐ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The HPW/MCM‐41 with different HPW loadings from 10 to 60 wt% possess large specific surface area and rather uniform mesopores. Keggin structure of HPW retains on the prepared composite catalysts. The photocatalytic performance of HPW/MCM‐41 was examined by degradation of a durable pesticide imidacloprid. It is found that the prepared photocatalysts exhibit high activity under irradiation of 365 nm monochromatic light. For 50 mL of imidacloprid (10 mg/L), conversion of imidacloprid using 20 mg of HPW/MCM‐41 with 50 wt% loading level and calcined at 300°C reaches 58.0% after 5 h irradiation.     

Catalytic conversion of lactic acid into propylene glycol over various metals supported on silica

Catalytic hydrogenation of lactic acid to propylene glycol was performed over various metals (Ag, Co, Cu, Ni, Pt, and Ru) supported on silica prepared by an incipient wetness impregnation method. The loading amount of each metal was 5 wt%. Crystallinity of the synthesized catalysts was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the BET method was utilized to examine the surface area. Pore volume and pore size of catalysts were determined using BJH analysis of the N₂ adsorption isotherm. Particle sizes of various metals were determined from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. The catalytic activity was found to be strongly dependent on the supported metal. Among catalysts tested, Ru/SiO₂ showed the highest propylene glycol yield. The yield of propylene glycol increased with pressure, and the highest yield was achieved at 130 °C.     

Promotion of lanthanum-supported cobalt-based catalysts for the Fischer–Tropsch reaction

This paper focuses on the effect of the La/Co ratio on the structure of alumina cobalt supported catalysts for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis. Catalysts are prepared by wetness impregnation of alumina followed by calcination in air. The catalysts contain 10 wt% of cobalt and between 0 and 20 wt% of La (0, 5, 10, 15, 20). The catalysts were activated by reduction in hydrogen at 673 K and the catalytic performance was evaluated in a fixed bed reactor at 20 bar and 493 K. A wide range of techniques (BET, XRD, TPR, and XPS) were used for catalyst characterization at each preparation step and showed strong impact of the La/Co ratio on the structure, reducibility of supported cobalt phases. It was shown that 10 wt% of lanthanum allows reducing cobalt aluminate and improving catalytic performances.     

Sol gel derived Pd/Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>–ZrO<Subscript>2</Subscript> as catalysts for methane combustion: effect of zirconium loading

A series of Pd/Al₂O₃–ZrO₂ materials have been prepared via sol gel method as an attractive route to obtain more homogeneous binary oxides Al₂O₃–ZrO₂. A Zr loading between 2 and 15 wt% was used to investigate the Zr promotion of Pd/Al₂O₃ materials. The prepared catalysts were calcined at two different temperatures. Very interesting results have been obtained at low zirconium content. A small amount of Zr is seen to be sufficient to stabilize the activity and to obtain good catalytic performances with developed textural properties compared to conventional catalysts used to oxidize methane. The increase of the zirconium loading is seen to decrease the catalytic activity may be due to the development of tetragonal zirconia phase detected by XRD. Similar effect has been observed after heating catalysts at high temperatures. A loss in BET surface area and in metal dispersion has been also observed for zirconium rich catalysts. A contradictory effect on textural and structural properties is seen after their calcination at 700 °C.     

CH4 reforming with CO2 for syngas production over La2O3 promoted Ni catalysts supported on mesoporous nanostructured γ-Al2O3

Nanostructured γ-Al₂O₃ with high surface area and mesoporous structure was synthesized by sol-gel method and employed as catalyst support for nickel catalysts in methane reforming with carbon dioxide. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, N₂ adsorption-desorption, TPR, TPO, TPH, NH₃-TPD and SEM techniques. The BET analysis showed a high surface area of 204 m²·g⁻¹ and a narrow pore-size distribution centered at a diameter of 5.5 nm for catalyst support. The BET results revealed that addition of lanthanum oxide to aluminum oxide decreased the specific surface area. In addition, TPR results showed that addition of lanthanum oxide increased the reducibility of nickel catalyst. The catalytic evaluation results showed an increase in methane conversion with increasing lanthanum oxide to 3 mol% and further increase in lanthanum content decreased the catalytic activity. TPO analysis revealed that the coke deposition decreased with increasing lanthanum oxide to 3 mol%. SEM and TPH analyses confirmed the formation of whisker type carbon over the spent catalysts. Addition of steam and O₂ to dry reforming feed increased the methane conversion and led to carbon free operation in combined processes.     

Synthesis and Characterization of New Material——La/Zr/MMT Employed in Acetone Oxidation

A new material of zirconium pillared montmorillonite added with lanthanum （denoted as La/Zr/MMT） was prepared for acetone oxidation. Surface properties of the catalysts were investigated by means of XRD, TEM, TG-DTA and BET methods. The XRD result indicated that the interlayer space of the montmorillonite was enlarged from 1.57 to 4.85 um after the treatment with zirconium pillaring and the addition of lanthanum. N2 adsorption-desorption result showed that by the process of zirconium pillaring, the specific surface area of the sample was increased to 128.0 m^2/g, which was two times almost as large as pure montmorillonite. Simultaneously, the thermal stability was also enhanced. The activity of the new material on the total oxidation of acetone was investigated, and the results indicated that the catalytic activity of the montmorillonite was greatly improved. Over the sample of La/Zr/MMT, the T98 of acetone was obtained at 350 ℃, while it needs 400 ℃ over the pure montmorillonite. After 0.1% Pd was supported on the sample of La/Zr/MMT, the T98 decreased from 350 to 280 ℃, indicating the montmorillonite is a promising material for the control of some types of the volatile organic compounds such as acetone.     

Hydroisomerization of n-heptane over bimetal-bearing H3PW12O40 catalysts supported on dealuminated USY zeolite

The bimetal-bearing (CePt or LaPt) 12-tungstophosphoric acid (H₃PW₁₂O₄₀ (PW)) catalysts supported on dealuminated USY zeolite (DUSY) were prepared by impregnation and characterized by XRD, BET, IR, and H₂-chemisorption. Their catalytic activities were tested in the hydroisomerization of n-heptane with a continuous atmospheric fixed-bed reactor. After the steam treatment combined with the acid leaching, as well as the supporting with PW and the bimetals, the DUSY support retains the Y zeolite porosity and the PW well keeps its Keggin structure in catalysts. The doping of Ce into the catalysts enhances the dispersion of Pt on the catalyst surface. The Pt-bearing PW catalysts doped with Ce or La, especially Ce, exhibit much higher catalytic activity and selectivity than the catalysts without dopants at lowered reaction temperatures. At the optimal reaction conditions, i.e., the reaction temperature of 250°C and WHSV of 1.4 h^?1, the catalyst with a Pt loading of 0.4%, PW loading of 10% and a molar ratio of Ce to Pt of 15:1 shows a conversion of n-heptane of 70.3% with a high selectivity for isomerization products of 94.1%.     

Selective Oxidation of Isobutane to Methacrylic Acid over Supported V-Mo-P Based Composite Oxide Catalysts

Heteropolyacid, the most popular catalyst for the direct oxidation of isobutane, exhibits high catalytic activity, poor thermal stability and a short lifetime. Therefore, the catalyst requires further research to improve its performance. Catalysts composed of mixed oxides (V2O5, P2O5, or MoO3) supported on silica were prepared by the sol-gel method to catalyze the reaction. Results of XRD, IR, and BET corroborated that the mixed oxides were dispersed homogeneously on the surface of support. The activity of lattice oxygen in the catalysts was studied by TPR, and the chemisorption property of isobutane on the surface of the catalysts was investigated by the TPD method. H2-TPR of the catalysts revealed that the lattice oxygen of the vanadium-based catalysts is more active than that of the molybdenum-based catalysts. The redox property of V or Mo species is slightly affected by other compositions of the series catalysts. The TPD curves illustrate that there are two kinds of adsorptive species of isobutane on