Catalysis Science & Technology Blog

This Catalysis Science & Technology Hot article showcases a collaboration between the University of Oxford and Johnson Matthey where they make a palladium catalyst with interstitial carbons for fine chemical catalysis in the liquid phase.

This paper will be included in the Heterogeneous Catalysis for Fine Chemicals theme issue, which focuses on  catalysis for fine chemicals synthesis, preparative chemistry and drug discovery, guest edited by Graham Hutchings and Mario Pagliaro.

Here they use a hydrothermal technique with glucose as the capping agent and supporting matrix, which when heated allows the carbon atoms to occupy the octahedral holes in the palladium framework.

Shik Chi Tsang from the University of Oxford comments, that in this research the catalyst they create will ‘prove highly beneficial for liquid phase hydrogenations of alkyne to alkene, one of the key steps in the pharmaceuticals, fragrances and fine chemical catalysis’.

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Palladium with interstitial carbon atoms as a catalyst for ultraselective hydrogenation in the liquid phase
Chun Wong Aaron Chan, Kin Yip Tam, James Cookson, Peter Bishop and Shik Chi Tsang
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00257K

An increased industrial demand for propene, and potential applications in the processing of renewable raw materials has led to a strong renewal of interest in development of
heterogeneous olefin metathesis catalysis. Olefin metathesis proceeds through the formation of metal carbene initiating and propagating species. On contact with the reactant, catalyst precursors generate metal carbene initiating sites.  Active polycrystalline molybdenum carbide foils may be prepared through carbonyl bond breaking in chemisorbed aldehydes and ketones to yield surface alkylidene and oxo groups.  In this HOT article, helium ion microscopy imaging is used to characterize the foil as a first step towards determining if the carbide structure plays an important role in the olefin metathesis related surface chemistry.

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Spectroscopic and structural characterization of the formation of olefin metathesis initiating sites on unsupported ß-Mo₂C
I. Temprano, G. Goubert, G. Behan, H. Zhang and P. H. McBreen
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00180A

In this Catalysis Science & Technology Hot article Houshang Alamdari and colleagues from the University of Laval, Canada, use a mechanosynthesis technique to make nanocrystalline hexaaluminate-type mixed oxides for use as heterogeneous catalysts.

The team make a material with high surface area and catalytic activity, with crystals of about 20nm. The technique is great because it is easy to scale-up and does not require waste treatment or complicated process control.

Similar materials have been used as catalysts in the high temperature catalytic combustion of methane, so perhaps this technique will find a future there!

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Solvent free synthesis of nanocrystalline hexaaluminate-type mixed oxides with high specific surface areas for CO oxidation reaction
Said Laassiri, Daniel Duprez, Sébastien Royer and Houshang Alamdari
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00211B

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In this Catalysis Science & Technology Hot article Amanda Barnard and colleagues present the first nanoscale phase diagram of colloidal nanoparticle catalysts made of platinum.

They are investigating how to optimise platinum catalysts by modifying their shape, and so use a theoretical nanomorphology model previously used on nanogold to understand platinum nanocatalysts.

Nanocatalysts like this are desirable because they allow a smaller amount of a valuable metal to be used, making them cheaper and more sustainable.

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Morphology mapping of platinum catalysts over the entire nanoscale
A. S. Barnard, H. Konishi and H. F. Xu
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00238D

Read more about Amanda Barnard’s work by visiting her webpage at CSIRO, Australia