SUPPORTED CATALYSTS PREPARED FROM MONONUCLEAR COPPER-COMPLEXES - CATALYTIC PROPERTIES

Model surfaces of copper on silica (Cab-O-Sil) were prepared and characterized by four probe reactions: methyl acetate hydrogenolysis, ethanol and methanol decomposition, and acetaldehyde hydrogenation. The model catalysts were prepared by thermal decomposition of copper acetylacetonate {Cu(acac)2} deposited on silica either as a monolayer or as multiple layers. The prior characterizations suggested that thermal decomposition of monolayer films of Cu(acac)2 produced isolated copper species which could be oxidized and reduced up to 10 times without changing the dispersion of the copper. Thermolysis of the multiple layers of Cu(acac)2 produced a copper surface of lower dispersions (ca. 70%) which decreased to 30% after only five oxidation/reduction cycles. These two surfaces were appropriate models to study the catalysis of oxygenates over Cu ensembles. © 1992.