Liquid phase selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde over copper supported catalysts

VICTORIA SOLEDAD GUTIERREZ; MARIANA ALVAREZ; MARÍA ALICIA VOLPE

APPLIED CATALYSIS A-GENERAL

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2012 vol. 413 p. 358 - 365

0926-860X

The selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde is carried out in a batch reactor, at 100°C and 1 MPa of H 2 using isopropyl alcohol as the solvent, over a series of copper supported catalysts: Cu/Al2O3 , Cu/SiO2, Cu/MCM-48, Cu/CeO2 and Cu/-Fe2O 3 . The selectivity of the samples is compared with that corresponding to Pt/SiO 2 . Reduced Cu/Al 2 O 3 and Cu/SiO 2 showed lower selectivity to the cinnamyl alcohol (16 - 22 %) than Pt/SiO 2 (35%), at 15% of conversion. Following a calcination at 300 °C both, activity and selectivity of copper catalysts were increased. The calcined surface would hydrogenate C   O bond by hydrogen transfer from the solvent. TPR, XRD and FTIR of adsorbed CO showed that Cu (I) species are stabilized on the mesoporous structure of MCM-48. This particular feature renders Cu/MCM-48 a selective catalyst, reaching high selectivity values (51%, at 15% of conversion). Cu/CeO 2 and Cu/-Fe 2 O 3 showed higher selectivity than Pt based catalyst due to a promotion of the catalytic properties of copper by reduced support species.