Wacker-oxidation of Ethylene over Pillared Layered Material Catalysts

This paper concerns the Wacker oxidation of ethylene by oxygen in the presence of water over supported Pd/VOx catalysts. High surface area porous supports were obtained from layer-structured materials, such as, montmorillonite (MT), laponite (LT) (smectites), and hydrotalcite (layered double hydroxide, LDH) by pillaring. Before introduction of Pd, supports MT and LDH were pillared by vanadia. The laponite was used in titania-pillared form (TiO2-LAP) as support of Pd/VOx active component. Acetaldehyde (AcH), acetic acid (AcOH) and CO2 were the products with yields and selectivities, depending on the reaction conditions and the properties of the applied catalyst. Under comparable conditions the pillared smectite catalysts gave higher AcH yield than the pillared LDH catalyst. UV vis spectroscopic examination suggested that the pillared smectites contained polymeric chains of VO4, whereas only isolated monomeric VO4 species were present in the pillared LDH. The higher catalytic activity in the Wacker oxidation was attributed to the more favorable redox property of the polymeric than of the monomeric vanadia. The V3+ ions in the polymeric species can reduce O2 to O2- ions, whereas the obtained V5+ ions are ready to pass over O to Pd0 to generate PdO whereon the oxidation of the ethylene proceeds

Catalytic study of MCM-41 immobilized RhCl3 for the hydroformylation of styrene

10.1007/s10934-008-9254-3Journal of Porous Materials166721-729JPMA

Metal Complexes as Structure-Directing Agents for Zeolites and Related Microporous Materials

Metal complexes can act as structure-directing agents (SDAs) for zeolites and zeotypes, either alone or together with additional SDAs in dual-templating approaches. Such complexes include organometallic cobaltocenium ions, alkali metal crown ether complexes, first-row transition-metal (Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) poly-amines and thiol-complexed second-and third-row transition metals (Pd, Pt). Their inclusion has been demonstrated in some cases by crystallographic methods but more commonly by spectroscopy (UV-visible, X-ray absorption, M€ossbauer). The unique feature of this class of template is that they can not only direct crystallisation but also give solids with homogeneously distributed metal cations or metal oxide species upon calcination, precluding the need for an additional post-synthesis modification step. Materials prepared via this ‘one-pot’ synthetic route have been shown to give shape-selective catalysts for reactions such as the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with ammonia and the hydrogenation, dehydration and oxidative dehydrogenation of small hydrocarbons and oxygenates.</p