New Heterogeneous Catalyst based in Ru Nanoparticles made by a Photochemical Method

CARRILLO, ADELA; SCHMIDT, LUCIANA C; SCAIANO, J. C

Calgary

Conferencia; 95th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition; 2012

The development of sustainable routes for the large scale production of fine chemicals, i.e. cost-effective and environmentally friendly, is one of the major current concerns at the industrial level.1 As a result, researchers are looking to integrate knowledge from different disciplines to achieve greener chemistry. In this work, material and photochemical sciences are used to develop a new kind of heterogeneous catalyst, Figure 1. The hybrid mesoporous material has been synthesized by a three step approach: i) synthesis of MCM-41 type silica by a hydrothermal method using TEOS as silica source, ii) grafting of APTES onto the silica material and iii) synthesis of ruthenium nanoparticles using a UVA light excitation in the presence of Irgacure 907 as a reducing agent. Well-dispersed ruthenium nanoparticles anchored onto the silica network by the APTES groups are obtained. The heterogeneous catalyst has been successfully tested in a Wittig type reaction. Results show that this material is active and very selective to the trans product, being also highly reusable under the chosen reaction conditions. Activities and recyclability were remarkably superior to those of similar hybrid materials prepared using ruthenium complexes.     1 (a) United States Enviromental Protection Agency. guide to Industrial Assessments for Pollution Prevention and Energy Efficiency, EPA/625/R-99/003 (2001); (b) Swedish Parliament, Strategic Challenges- A further Elaboration of the Swedish Strategy for Sustainable Development, Government Communication, 2005/06:126 (2006); (c) Sustainable Industrial Chemistry, (Eds.: F. Cavani, G. Centi, S. Perathoner, F. Trifiro), Wiley-VHC, Weinheim (2009).