Hydrogenation of Cyclohexene in Aqueous Solvent Mixture Over a Sustainable Recyclable Catalyst Comprising Palladium and Monolacunary Silicotungstate Anchored to MCM‐41

Abstract

An efficient, highly stable, and ligand‐free catalyst consisting of Pd and monolacunary silicotungstate anchored to MCM‐41 was synthesized and characterized by various techniques. The synthesized catalyst was used for the hydrogenation reaction of cyclohexene as model substrate, and various reaction parameters were studied in order to optimize them for maximum conversion, 95 %, under mild conditions. The catalyst was regenerated by simply washing with methanol and reused up to three cycles without significant loss in activity. The viability of the catalyst was evaluated for different alkenes and ketones, and in all cases the conversion was found to be in the range of 92–99 %. It was also found that the sustainability arises from SiW11, which binds the palladium very strongly and thus does not allow its leaching into the reaction mixture.