Catalytic hydrocarbon reactions over supported metal oxides. Progress report, April 1, 1994--January 31, 1995

Abstract

Oxide catalysis plays a central role in hydrocarbon processing and improvements in catalytic activity or selectivity are of great technological importance because these improvements will translate directly into more efficient utilization of hydrocarbon supplies and lower energy consumption in separation processes. An understanding of the relationships between surface structure and catalytic properties is needed to describe and improve oxide catalysts. Our approach has been to prepare supported oxides that have a specific structure and oxidation state and then employ these structures in reaction studies. Our current research program is focused on studying the fundamental relationships between structure and reactivity for two important reactions that are present in many oxide-catalyzed processes, partial oxidation and carbon-carbon bond formation. Oxide catalysis can be a complex process with both metal cation and oxygen anions participating in the chemical reactions. From an energy perspective carbon-carbon bond formation is particularly relevant to CO hydrogenation in isosynthesis. Hydrogenolysis and hydrogenation form the basis for heteroatom removal in fuels processing. Understanding the catalysis of these processes (and others) requires isolating reaction steps in the overall cycle and determining how structure and composition influence the individual reaction steps. Specially designed oxides, such as we use, permit one to study some of the steps in oxidation, carbon-carbon coupling and heteroatom removal catalysis. During the course of our studies we have: (1) developed methods to form and stabilize various Mo and W oxide structures on silica; (2) studied C-H abstraction reactions over the fully oxidized cations; (3) studied C-C bond coupling by methathesis and reductive coupling of aldehydes and ketones over reduced cation structures; and (4) initiated a study of hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis over reduced cation structures.