Atypical hydrogenation selectivity of platinum by reactive environment modulation

Abstract

Controlling selectivity in the hydrogenation of compounds with several functional groups remains a challenging task in heterogeneous catalysis. We report herein the design and use of simple catalysts composed of Pt nanoparticles confined in Silicalite-1 (S-1, MFI type zeolite) for the inversion of the inherent C 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 00000000 00000000 O selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde over Pt. The encapsulated catalyst achieved an unconventional 98% hydrocinnamaldehyde selectivity at high conversion levels (88%), which bypasses the inherent selectivity of Pt for C O versus C C hydrogenation. This high selectivity originates from the combination of the low polarity of the S-1 support and the toluene solvent that favor interaction of the catalyst with the C C over the C O group, and to the efficient encapsulation of the platinum in the zeolite channels which restricts the growth of the nanoparticles and consequently decreases the number of undesirable Pt(111) facets active for C O hydrogenation.