Alumina-platinum catalyst in the reductive dehydration of ethanol and diethyl ether to alkanes

Abstract

The reductive dehydration of ethanol and diethyl ether selectively occurs with the formation of alkanes to C10+ on an AP-64 alumina-platinum catalyst (0.6 wt % Pt/γ-Al2O3) after its reduction with hydrogen at 450°C for 12 h in Ar. It was found that one of the main reaction paths is the insertion of ethylene into substrate intermediates with the predominant formation of normal alkanes. It was found by XAFS spectroscopy that Pt2Al intermetallide particles were formed along with platinum metal clusters after long reduction. The ammonia TPD data indicated a change in the acid properties of the surface after the long reduction of the catalyst: the concentration of medium-strength surface aprotic acid sites increased by a factor of 2. It was found that the interaction of aprotic sites with water vapor resulted in the formation of strong proton acid sites. It is likely that these latter are responsible for the growth of a carbon skeleton in the course of alkane formation from ethanol.