Highly efficient and selective hydrogenation of unsaturated carbonyl compounds using Ni–Sn alloy catalysts

Abstract

Inexpensive Ni–Sn-based alloy catalysts, both bulk and supported, exhibited high selectivity in the hydrogenation of a wide range of unsaturated carbonyl compounds and produced unsaturated alcohols almost exclusively. For the bulk Ni–Sn alloy catalysts, a relatively high reaction temperature of 453 K was required to achieve an efficient hydrogenation of CO rather than CC. The catalyst that consisted of the Ni–Sn alloy dispersed on TiO₂ allowed a remarkable reduction of the reaction temperature to 383 K. Both the Ni₃Sn₂ and Ni₃Sn alloy phases were found to be responsible for the enhancement of the chemoselectivity. The Ni–Sn alloy catalysts were reusable without any significant loss of selectivity.