Liquid-phase hydrogenation of butyl aldehyde promoted on skeletal nickel catalysts

Abstract

The processes of heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation of carbonyl-containing compounds into the corresponding alcohols mostly occur under rather harsh conditions; therefore, catalysts and optimal parameters that facilitate the process under mild conditions need to be selected. New ways of synthesizing catalytic systems and the use of harmless, environmentally friendly supercritical liquids as solvents are some of the key areas of green chemistry. At present, due to their high activity, two-component skeletal Ni catalysts are widely used in industry. This work attempts to develop highly efficient catalytic systems based on a three-component alloyed Ni catalyst containing metals (Ru, Rh) for the liquid-phase hydrogenation of aldehydes to butyl alcohols. The physicochemical and catalytic properties of modified alloyed Ni catalysts in the reaction of liquid-phase hydrogenation of butyl aldehyde to butyl alcohol have been investigated. Butyl aldehyde hydrogenation was carried out on a skeletal Ni catalyst promoted with ruthenium or rhodium in water at a temperature of 20–25 °C and the hydrogen pressure of 0.1 MPa. It was found that modified catalysts with high activity and selectivity reduce butyl aldehydes to butyl alcohols. The processes of catalyst preparation and butyl aldehyde hydrogenation are scalable and can be used in various processes of organic and petrochemical synthesis.