Hydrodehydroxylation and hydrodehalogenation of substituted polycyclic aromatics using carbon catalysts

Journal Article · Tue Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1994 · Journal of Catalysis; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9517(94)90036-1· OSTI ID:6780504

Farcasiu, M; Petrosius, S C; Ladner, E P ^[1]

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1. Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center, PA (United States)

There is a renewed interest in carbon materials as potentially inexpensive and environmentally safe catalysts. While carbon materials have been known as catalysts with modest activity for many years, more recent advances in material science have made possible the synthesis of very high surface area carbon materials. Some of these materials are highly active and selective catalysts for oxidation reaction, dehydrochlorination of alkyl chlorides and selective cleavage of C-C bonds. This work area of coal liquefaction modeling has shown the ability of carbon black and other carbon materials to cleave C-C bonds in model compounds with chemical structure relevant to coal and petroleum resids. A very high selectivity (over 90%) was observed for the cleavage of the bond between a condensed polycyclic aromatic ring and the adjacent aliphatic carbon. This activity has been correlated to the positive surface charge on the carbon catalyst at the reaction temperature. A cation-radical mechanism has been proposed for the reaction, with electron transfer from the polycyclic aromatic ring to the carbon surface as the initial step of the catalysis. The ability of a carbon black transfer an electron from an adsorbed iodine anion to an Fe[sup 3+] cation has been demonstrated by Spiro. This report describes studies of the catalytic activity of carbon black in selective dehydroxylation and dehalogenation reactions under reductive conditions in the presence of a hydrogen donor. Porous carbons are active catalysts for the oxidative decomposition of halogenated hydrocarbons to CO[sub 2] and HCl. This method, using a reductive medium, would allow for recovery of the carbon and hydrogen part of the molecules, a feature relevant to the effort to recycle waste into useful materials. 13 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 6780504
• Journal Information: Journal of Catalysis; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Catalysis; (United States) Vol. 146:1; ISSN 0021-9517; ISSN JCTLA5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010402 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Purification & Upgrading
02 PETROLEUM
020400* -- Petroleum-- Processing
AROMATICS
CARBON
CARBON BLACK
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CATALYSIS
CATALYSTS
CATALYTIC EFFECTS
CHEMICAL PREPARATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COAL
DEHALOGENATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSIS
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGENATION
MATERIALS
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM FRACTIONS
PETROLEUM RESIDUES
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
RADICALS
REDUCTION
SYNTHESIS