1 research outputs found
Stable Rhodium Pair Sites on MgO: Influence of Ligands and Rhodium Nuclearity on Catalysis of Ethylene Hydrogenation and H–D Exchange in the Reaction of H<sub>2</sub> with D<sub>2</sub>
Understanding of
supported metal pair-site catalysts is largely
lacking, because most are structurally nonuniform or incorporate stabilizing
ligands that inhibit catalysis. We synthesized rhodium pair-sites
on MgO from Rh<sub>2</sub>(μ-OMe)<sub>2</sub>(COD)<sub>2</sub> (OMe = methoxy; COD = cyclooctadiene), characterizing the surface
species with infrared and X-ray absorption spectroscopies. Catalytic
properties for ethylene hydrogenation and H–D exchange in the
H<sub>2</sub> + D<sub>2</sub> reaction show that surface pair sites
were retained when organic ligands were removed, giving catalysts
that facilitate H<sub>2</sub> dissociation much more rapidly than
single-site rhodium and catalyze ethylene hydrogenation 2 orders of
magnitude faster than single-site rhodium on MgO at 298 K