The acidity of a prereduced Cu/SiO2 catalyst was extensively investigated by means of FT-IR of adsorbed pyridine and by titrn. with 2-phenylethylamine in cyclohexane. Comparison with the parent CuO/SiO2 material, which was already shown to exhibit Lewis acid sites due to the high dispersion of the CuO phase, provided evidence that redn. of this phase to the metallic state increases the acidity of the material. This allowed to set up a bifunctional catalyst showing acidic and hydrogenation activity, both ascribable to the presence of the metal particle, without the need of an acidic support. This catalyst was tested in the one-pot transformation of ?-valerolactone into pentyl valerate and showed comparable activity (91 vs. 92% conversion) and improved selectivity (92 vs. 72%) with respect to the previously reported copper catalyst supported on acidic material. The role of Cu in activating the substrate was also evidenced through FTIRa of adsorbed ?-valerolactone.
Unraveling the role of low coordination sites in a Cu metal nanoparticle: a step forwards the selective synthesis of second generation biofuels
Nicola Scotti;Claudio Evangelisti;Nicoletta Ravasio;Federica Zaccheria
2014
Abstract
The acidity of a prereduced Cu/SiO2 catalyst was extensively investigated by means of FT-IR of adsorbed pyridine and by titrn. with 2-phenylethylamine in cyclohexane. Comparison with the parent CuO/SiO2 material, which was already shown to exhibit Lewis acid sites due to the high dispersion of the CuO phase, provided evidence that redn. of this phase to the metallic state increases the acidity of the material. This allowed to set up a bifunctional catalyst showing acidic and hydrogenation activity, both ascribable to the presence of the metal particle, without the need of an acidic support. This catalyst was tested in the one-pot transformation of ?-valerolactone into pentyl valerate and showed comparable activity (91 vs. 92% conversion) and improved selectivity (92 vs. 72%) with respect to the previously reported copper catalyst supported on acidic material. The role of Cu in activating the substrate was also evidenced through FTIRa of adsorbed ?-valerolactone.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
prod_288438-doc_82882.pdf
accesso aperto
Descrizione: Unraveling the role of low coordination sites in a Cu metal nanoparticle: a step forwards the selective synthesis of second generation biofuels
Dimensione
3.6 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
3.6 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.