Studies on the Catalytic Performance of the Nieuwland Catalyst and Anhydrous Catalyst in the Dimerization of Acetylene to Monovinylacetylene

Abstract

The present work aimed to find reasons for different catalytic ability of the Nieuwland catalyst and anhydrous catalyst in dimerization of acetylene to produce Monovinylacetylene (MVA). The results showed the catalytic ions in the Nieuwland catalyst and the anhydrous catalyst were CuCl-2 and Cu2Cl-3 respectively by studies on the Cu-containing crystals recovered from corresponding catalyst. CuCl-2 in crystal A and Cu2Cl-3 in crystal B has similar crystal structure, however, Cu(Ι) in Cu2Cl-3 has higher electron density due to stronger bond energy of Cu(Ι)-Cl, which may contribute to the higher activity of the anhydrous catalyst than that of Nieuwland catalyst.