HYDROGENOLYSIS OF 2,2-DIMETHYLBUTANE AND NORMAL-HEXANE OVER SUPPORTED RUTHENIUM, NICKEL, COBALT, AND IRON

Hydrogenolysis reactions of n-hexane and 2,2-dimethylbutane were studied in a differential reactor system over supported catalysts of ruthenium, nickel, cobalt, and iron, some containing a structural promoter. A wide range of conversions was covered, and the product distributions were fitted to equations that relate the selectivities to the conversion of the feed hydrocarbon. Quaternary carbon atoms are very stable on all catalysts. For n-hexane, nickel and cobalt selectively attack terminal carbon-carbon bonds while ruthenium cracks the different bonds with about equal probability. In the sequence-ruthenium, nickel, cobalt, iron-the product distributions shift toward smaller products. At the conditions used in these experiments, the surface cracking is the rate-limiting step on ruthenium only. © 1979.