Ruthenium nanoparticles supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes: Highly effective catalytic system for hydrogenation processes

Abstract Immobilization of small and homogeneously dispersed ruthenium nanoparticles stabilized by 4-(3-phenylpropyl)pyridine ligand (RuL) on functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (RuL-MWCNT) have been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis and transmission electronic microscopy. A comparative hydrogenation study of unsaturated substrates using non-supported (RuL) and supported catalytic systems (RuL–MWCNT) was carried out. For all the substrates, the activity of the supported catalyst was higher towards the full hydrogenated product than that obtained using the non-supported one. Moreover, the catalytic effect of the support nature was studied using RuL immobilized on silica (RuL–SiO2), alumina (RuL–Al2O3) and activated carbon (RuL–AC). The best activities and selectivities were found for RuL–MWCNT system, maintaining its catalytic behaviour upon recycling.

[1]  C. Foss,et al.  Metal Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications , 2001 .

[2]  Henri Patin,et al.  Reduced transition metal colloids: a novel family of reusable catalysts? , 2002, Chemical reviews.

[3]  P. Serp,et al.  MWCNT activation and its influence on the catalytic performance of Pt/MWCNT catalysts for selective hydrogenation , 2008 .

[4]  Xiaozhen Yang,et al.  Enantioselective hydrogenation of pyruvates over polymer-stabilized and supported platinum nanoclusters , 1999 .

[5]  Chao Wang,et al.  Multi-wall carbon nanotubes supported ruthenium for glucose hydrogenation to sorbitol , 2007 .

[6]  J. S. Bradley,et al.  A Kinetic Probe of the Effect of a Stabilizing Polymer on a Colloidal Catalyst: Accelerated Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Ethyl Pyruvate Catalyzed by Poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-Stabilized Platinum Colloids , 1998 .

[7]  A. Chagnes,et al.  Rational design of original materials for the electrocatalytic hydrogenation reactions: concept, preparation, characterization, and theoretical analysis. , 2004, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[8]  G. Schmid,et al.  Clusters and colloids : from theory to applications , 1994 .

[9]  G. Neri,et al.  Hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanone over palladium and alkali-doped palladium catalysts , 1994 .

[10]  P. Dyson,et al.  Structured fiber supports for ionic liquid-phase catalysis used in gas-phase continuous hydrogenation , 2007 .

[11]  M. El-Sayed,et al.  Chemistry and properties of nanocrystals of different shapes. , 2005, Chemical reviews.

[12]  V. Sokolov,et al.  Palladium(0) supported on carbon nanotubes as an efficient catalyst of the CC bond hydrogenation , 2009 .

[13]  C. Wai,et al.  Relative Catalytic Activities of Carbon Nanotube-Supported Metallic Nanoparticles for Room-Temperature Hydrogenation of Benzene , 2009 .

[14]  M. El-Sayed,et al.  The Effect of Stabilizers on the Catalytic Activity and Stability of Pd Colloidal Nanoparticles in the Suzuki Reactions in Aqueous Solution , 2001 .

[15]  P. Serp,et al.  Carbon nanotubes produced by fluidized bed catalytic CVD: first approach of the process , 2003 .

[16]  L. Brossard,et al.  Considerations about phenol electrohydrogenation on electrodes made with reticulated vitreous carbon cathode , 2003 .

[17]  J. Fierro,et al.  On the origin of the high performance of MWNT-supported PtPd catalysts for the hydrogenation of aromatics , 2006 .

[18]  G. Rothenberg,et al.  Electroreductive palladium-catalysed ullmann reactions in ionic liquids: scope and mechanism , 2006 .

[19]  M. El-Sayed,et al.  Some interesting properties of metals confined in time and nanometer space of different shapes. , 2001, Accounts of chemical research.

[20]  P. Serp,et al.  Bimetallic catalysis on carbon nanotubes for the selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde , 2006 .

[21]  J. Dupont,et al.  Catalytic applications of metal nanoparticles in imidazolium ionic liquids. , 2007, Chemistry.

[22]  R. Finke,et al.  Transition-metal nanocluster stabilization for catalysis: A critical review of ranking methods and putative stabilizers , 2007 .

[23]  H. Blaser,et al.  Enantioselective Hydrogenation Using Heterogeneous Modified Catalysts: An Update , 2003 .