Substituent effect in hydrogenative ring-opening of cyclobutanes on Pt/SiO2

The main direction of hydrogenative ring-opening of propylcyclobutane on Pt/SiO₂ catalyst in the temperature interval of 373–673 K is the formation of n-heptane through cleavage of the sterically hindered C₁–C₂ bond. The unusual selectivity can be attributed to adsorption of both the ring and the propyl group on the catalyst. With increasing temperature, the selectivity of ring-opening approaches the statistically expected ratio.