Nitrogen-doped cobalt nanocatalysts for carbonylation of propylene oxide

Abstract

Nitrogen-doped cobalt nanoparticles loaded on porous supports were developed for ring-opening carbonylation of propylene oxide. The catalysts were prepared by simply pyrolysis of Co(OAc)2/phenanthroline and supports. As proved by XPS combined with XRD and TEM characterizations, a higher amount of available Co-N sites were responsible for promoting the carbonylative activity. The selectivity of carbonylated products reached 93 %, which is comparable to previously reported cobalt carbonyl catalysts. The novel type of carbonylative catalyst also could be reused and revealed fine stability due to the continuous generation of active [Co(CO)4]− species during reaction.