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Selective hydrogenation of polynuclear heteroatomic compounds. Final report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5289775

This research program focused on the utilization of polymer-supported (polystyrene-divinylbenzene, PS-DVB) transition-metal catalysts in the selective catalytic hydrogenation of polynuclear heteroaromatic compounds that are known to be present in coal and coal liquids. We found that the polymer-supported chlorotris(triphenyl-phosphine)rhodium(1) was the most efficient catalyst for the regiospecific reduction of the nitrogen-containing ring in model-coal compounds such as quinoline, 5,6- and 7,8-benzoquinoline and acridine, and in one case, a heteroaromatic sulfur compound, benzothiophene. Interestingly, the polymer-supported rhodium catalyst was more active than the corresponding homogeneous analogue by relative rate factors of 10 to 20 depending on the substrate studied in the reduction. More importantly, a model coal liquid was found to have a relative rate of reduction of quinoline to 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline (THQ) that was 2.2 times faster than a similar experiment without the coal liquid constituents consisting of pyrene, tetralin, methylnaphthalene, p-cresol, quinoline, and 2-methylpyridine. Further experimentation clearly showed that the model coal liquid constituent, p-cresol, was responsible for the relative rate enhancement in the highly regiospecific (no other model coal liquid constituent was hydrogenated) reduction of quinoline to THQ. We also found that 9,10-dihydrophenanthridine was an excellent catalytic transfer hydrogenation reagent in the presence of several homogeneous and polymer-supported transition-metal catalysts. A discussion demonstrates the potential usefulness of these catalysts in the hydroprocessing of coal liquids and other petroleum products.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
5289775
Report Number(s):
EPRI-AP-4227; ON: DE85017581
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English