Efficient selective hydrogenation of 2-butyne-1,4-diol to 2-butene-1,4-diol by silicon carbide supported platinum catalyst

Abstract

Selective hydrogenation of 2-butyne-1,4-diol (BYD) to 2-butene-1,4-diol (BED) is important for chemical industries. In this work, a low concentration (0.5 wt%) of platinum (Pt) was deposited onto a silicon carbide (SiC) support by an incipient wetness impregnation approach, and the as-obtained catalyst exhibited an excellent selectivity (∼96%) for BED with a high conversion of 96% for BYD. Multiple characterization techniques were applied to investigate the active species for this reaction. The X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) data together with the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images indicated that the as-calcined 0.5Pt/SiC consisted of platinum oxide clusters (Pt_xO_y), which were further converted to the reduced Pt⁰ species during the hydrogenation process. Therefore, metallic Pt nanoparticles with 2–3 nm in size supported on silicon carbide are the active species for BED products via the selective hydrogenation of BYD in this work.