Thermoregulated phase-transfer Rh nanoparticle catalyst for selective hydrogenation of ortho-chloronitrobenzene

Abstract

The use of a thermoregulated phase-transfer Rh nanoparticle catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of ortho-chloronitrobenzene (o-CNB) to ortho-chloroaniline (o-CAN) in an aqueous/1-pentanol biphasic system was studied. Under the optimized reaction conditions, the conversion of o-CNB and the selectivity for o-CAN were 100% and 98%, respectively. The catalyst was easily separated from the product by phase separation and reused eight times without evident loss of activity and selectivity.