Hydrogenolysis of methylcyclopentane on tungsten sulfide

Abstract

1. The introduction of oxygen (in the form of an impurity in the hydrogen used) into the reaction system leads to an increase in the activity of the WS2 catalyst in the hydrogenolysis of methylcyclopentane and to a change in the selectivity of the catalyst: the fraction of methylcyclopentane molecules in which the bonds of the five-membered ring away from the methyl group are cleaved increases. 2. Compressed hydrogen influences the selectivity of a WS2 catalyst in the opposite direction from oxygen: increasing the hydrogen pressure produces an increase in the fraction of methylcyclopentane molecules entering into a reaction of hydrogenolysis of the bonds of the five-membered ring closest to the methyl group. 3. The results obtained and data published previously permit us to conclude that the selectivity of various catalysts of the hydrogenolysis of methylcyclopentane changes in the same directions under the influence of oxygen or when the hydrogen pressure is changed. It is hypothesized that the hydrogenolysis reactions take place on transition metal atoms and ions, and the change in the selectivity of the catalysts in the same direction is associated with a qualitatively identical change in the electrophilic properties of these atoms and ions.