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Title: Mechanistic Insights on the Hydrogenation of α,β-Unsaturated Ketones and Aldehydes to Unsaturated Alcohols over Metal Catalysts

Abstract

The selective hydrogenation of unsaturated ketones (methyl vinyl ketone and benzalacetone) and unsaturated aldehydes (crotonaldehyde and cinnamaldehyde) was carried out with H₂ at 2 bar absolute over Pd/C, Pt/C, Ru/C, Au/C, Au/TiO₂, or Au/Fe₂O₃ catalysts in ethanol or water solvent at 333 K. Comparison of the turnover frequencies revealed Pd/C to be the most active hydrogenation catalyst, but the catalyst failed to produce unsaturated alcohols, indicating hydrogenation of the C=C bond was highly preferred over the C=O bond on Pd. The Pt and Ru catalysts were able to produce unsaturated alcohols from unsaturated aldehydes, but not from unsaturated ketones. Although Au/ Fe₂O₃ was able to partially hydrogenate unsaturated ketones to unsaturated alcohols, the overall hydrogenation rate over gold was the lowest of all of the metals examined. First-principles density functional theory calculations were therefore used to explore the reactivity trends of methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) and benzalacetone (BA) hydrogenation over model Pt(111) and Ru(0001) surfaces. The observed selectivity over these metals is likely controlled by the significantly higher activation barriers to hydrogenate the C=O bond compared with those required to hydrogenate the C=C bond. Both the unsaturated alcohol and the saturated ketone, which are the primary reaction products, are stronglymore » bound to Ru and can react further to the saturated alcohol. The lower calculated barriers for the hydrogenation steps over Pt compared with Ru account for the higher observed turnover frequencies for the hydrogenation of MVK and BA over Pt. The presence of a phenyl substituent α to the C=C bond in BA increased the barrier for C=C hydrogenation over those associated with the C=C bond in MVK; however, the increase in barriers with phenyl substitution was not adequate to reverse the selectivity trend.« less

Authors:
; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1222157
DOE Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
ACS Catalysis, 2(4):671-683
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: ACS Catalysis, 2(4):671-683
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Citation Formats

Ide, Matthew S., Hao, Bing, Neurock, Matthew, and Davis, Robert J. Mechanistic Insights on the Hydrogenation of α,β-Unsaturated Ketones and Aldehydes to Unsaturated Alcohols over Metal Catalysts. United States: N. p., 2012. Web. doi:10.1021/cs200567z.
Ide, Matthew S., Hao, Bing, Neurock, Matthew, & Davis, Robert J. Mechanistic Insights on the Hydrogenation of α,β-Unsaturated Ketones and Aldehydes to Unsaturated Alcohols over Metal Catalysts. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/cs200567z
Ide, Matthew S., Hao, Bing, Neurock, Matthew, and Davis, Robert J. 2012. "Mechanistic Insights on the Hydrogenation of α,β-Unsaturated Ketones and Aldehydes to Unsaturated Alcohols over Metal Catalysts". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/cs200567z.
@article{osti_1222157,
title = {Mechanistic Insights on the Hydrogenation of α,β-Unsaturated Ketones and Aldehydes to Unsaturated Alcohols over Metal Catalysts},
author = {Ide, Matthew S. and Hao, Bing and Neurock, Matthew and Davis, Robert J.},
abstractNote = {The selective hydrogenation of unsaturated ketones (methyl vinyl ketone and benzalacetone) and unsaturated aldehydes (crotonaldehyde and cinnamaldehyde) was carried out with H₂ at 2 bar absolute over Pd/C, Pt/C, Ru/C, Au/C, Au/TiO₂, or Au/Fe₂O₃ catalysts in ethanol or water solvent at 333 K. Comparison of the turnover frequencies revealed Pd/C to be the most active hydrogenation catalyst, but the catalyst failed to produce unsaturated alcohols, indicating hydrogenation of the C=C bond was highly preferred over the C=O bond on Pd. The Pt and Ru catalysts were able to produce unsaturated alcohols from unsaturated aldehydes, but not from unsaturated ketones. Although Au/ Fe₂O₃ was able to partially hydrogenate unsaturated ketones to unsaturated alcohols, the overall hydrogenation rate over gold was the lowest of all of the metals examined. First-principles density functional theory calculations were therefore used to explore the reactivity trends of methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) and benzalacetone (BA) hydrogenation over model Pt(111) and Ru(0001) surfaces. The observed selectivity over these metals is likely controlled by the significantly higher activation barriers to hydrogenate the C=O bond compared with those required to hydrogenate the C=C bond. Both the unsaturated alcohol and the saturated ketone, which are the primary reaction products, are strongly bound to Ru and can react further to the saturated alcohol. The lower calculated barriers for the hydrogenation steps over Pt compared with Ru account for the higher observed turnover frequencies for the hydrogenation of MVK and BA over Pt. The presence of a phenyl substituent α to the C=C bond in BA increased the barrier for C=C hydrogenation over those associated with the C=C bond in MVK; however, the increase in barriers with phenyl substitution was not adequate to reverse the selectivity trend.},
doi = {10.1021/cs200567z},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1222157}, journal = {ACS Catalysis, 2(4):671-683},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 06 00:00:00 EDT 2012},
month = {Fri Apr 06 00:00:00 EDT 2012}
}