SINGLE-SOURCE PRECURSORS OF STRUCTURED CATALYSTS FOR THE HYDROGENATION OF 1,3-BUTADIENE

The clusters of clusters M4O[(CO)9Co3CCO2)]6, M = Zn (I), Co (II), are single-source precursors for porous, high surface area materials, referred to as ZnCo and CoCo, respectively. These two cobalt metal based materials were investigated as catalysts for the hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene under a variety of reaction conditions. Both ZnCo and CoCo are active catalysts in the 50-300-degrees-C temperature range, however, different activities and selectivities for the formation of products are exhibited. At reaction temperatures below 150-degrees-C these catalysts show no loss of activity at up to 4 days on stream. Comparison of the catalytic properties of CoCo with a cobalt-supported alumina. catalyst at similar metal loading shows that the cluster-derived catalyst exhibits both higher activity and different selectivity than the conventional supported cobalt catalyst. The observed hydrogenation activity and selectivity of these new materials relative to conventional catalysts or catalysts prepared from simpler precursors suggest that both the composition and microstructure derived from the complex precursor architecture contribute to the catalytic behavior. At reaction temperatures around 300-degrees-C the activity of ZnCo and CoCo catalysts decrease due to the formation of carbon on the surface of the cluster materials and the partial collapse of the porous structure.