High yield of liquid range olefins obtained by converting i-propanol over zeolite H-ZSM-5.

Methanol, ethanol, and i-propanol were converted under methanol-to-gasoline (MTH)-like conditions (400 degrees C, 1-20 bar) over zeolite H-ZSM-5. For methanol and ethanol, the catalyst lifetimes and conversion capacities are comparable, but when i-propanol is used as the reactant, the catalyst lifetime is increased dramatically. In fact, the total conversion capacity (calculated as the total amount of alcohol converted before deactivation in g(alcohol)/g(zeolite)) is more than 25 times higher for i-propanol compared to the lower alcohols. Furthermore, when i-propanol is used as the reactant, the selectivity toward alkanes and aromatics declines rapidly over time on stream, and at 20 bar of pressure the liquid product mixture consists almost exclusively of C(4)-C(12) alkenes after approximately a third of the full reaction time. This discovery could open a new route to hydrocarbons via i-propanol from syn-gas or biobased feedstocks.

Gold-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in water at ambient temperature.

The aerobic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, a versatile biomass-derived chemical, is examined in water with a titania-supported gold-nanoparticle catalyst at ambient temperature (30 °C). The selectivity of the reaction towards 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and the intermediate oxidation product 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furancarboxylic acid is found to depend on the amount of added base and the oxygen pressure, suggesting that the reaction proceeds via initial oxidation of the aldehyde moiety followed by oxidation of the hydroxymethyl group of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. Under optimized reaction conditions, a 71% yield of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid is obtained at full 5-hydroxymethylfurfural conversion in the presence of excess base.

Hierarchical zeolites: enhanced utilisation of microporous crystals in catalysis by advances in materials design.

The introduction of synthetic zeolites has led to a paradigm shift in catalysis, separations, and adsorption processes, due to their unique properties such as crystallinity, high-surface area, acidity, ion-exchange capacity, and shape-selective character. However, the sole presence of micropores in these materials often imposes intracrystalline diffusion limitations, rendering low utilisation of the zeolite active volume in catalysed reactions. This critical review examines recent advances in the rapidly evolving area of zeolites with improved accessibility and molecular transport. Strategies to enhance catalyst effectiveness essentially comprise the synthesis of zeolites with wide pores and/or with short diffusion length. Available approaches are reviewed according to the principle, versatility, effectiveness, and degree of reality for practical implementation, establishing a firm link between the properties of the resulting materials and the catalytic function. We particularly dwell on the exciting field of hierarchical zeolites, which couple in a single material the catalytic power of micropores and the facilitated access and improved transport consequence of a complementary mesopore network. The carbon templating and desilication routes as examples of bottom-up and top-down methods, respectively, are reviewed in more detail to illustrate the benefits of hierarchical zeolites. Despite encircling the zeolite field, this review stimulates intuition into the design of related porous solids (116 references).

The nature of the active site in heterogeneous metal catalysis.

This tutorial review, of relevance for the surface science and heterogeneous catalysis communities, provides a molecular-level discussion of the nature of the active sites in metal catalysis. Fundamental concepts such as "Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi relations" and "volcano curves" are introduced, and are used to establish a strict partitioning between the so-called "electronic" and "geometrical" effects. This partitioning is subsequently employed as the basis for defining the concept "degree of structure sensitivity" which can be used when analyzing the structure sensitivity of catalytic reactions.

BEP relations for N2 dissociation over stepped transition metal and alloy surfaces.

We present density functional theory (DFT) calculations for N2 dissociation on stepped face-centred cubic (211) surface slabs. By using the same crystal structure, the same adsorption site for atomic nitrogen, and the same transition-state bond length of N2 over a range of pure metal surfaces, a perfectly linear Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi (BEP) relation between the transition-state potential energy and the dissociative chemisorption energy is obtained. The perfect BEP relation, which extends over 12 eV in chemisorption energy, suggests that the manifestation of BEP relations for surface reactions is a general electronic structure effect, and that geometric effects are responsible for the scatter which is normally observed around the BEP line. The BEP relation is also shown to be valid for both surface and bulk alloys. The scatter is, however, larger than for the pure elements. This can be understood as a larger geometrical variance. To analyze the accuracy of the DFT calculations a detailed convergence study is performed for several adsorbates on stepped hexagonal close-packed and face-centred cubic Ru slabs.

Indirect, reversible high-density hydrogen storage in compact metal ammine salts.

The indirect hydrogen storage capabilities of Mg(NH 3) 6Cl 2, Ca(NH 3) 8Cl 2, Mn(NH 3) 6Cl 2, and Ni(NH 3) 6Cl 2 are investigated. All four metal ammine chlorides can be compacted to solid tablets with densities of at least 95% of the crystal density. This gives very high indirect hydrogen densities both gravimetrically and volumetrically. Upon heating, NH 3 is released from the salts, and by employing an appropriate catalyst, H 2 can be released corresponding to up to 9.78 wt % H and 0.116 kg H/L for the Ca(NH 3) 8Cl 2 salt. The NH 3 release from all four salts is investigated using temperature-programmed desorption employing different heating rates. The desorption is found mainly to be limited by heat transfer, indicating that the desorption kinetics are extremely fast for all steps. During desorption from solid tablets of Mg(NH 3) 6Cl 2, Mn(NH 3) 6Cl 2, and Ni(NH 3) 6Cl 2, nanoporous structures develop, which facilitates desorption from the interior of large, compact tablets. Density functional theory calculations reproduce trends in desorption enthalpies for the systems studied, and a mechanism in which individual chains of the ammines are released from the surface of the crystal is proposed to explain the fast absorption/desorption processes.

Identification of non-precious metal alloy catalysts for selective hydrogenation of acetylene.

The removal of trace acetylene from ethylene is performed industrially by palladium hydrogenation catalysts (often modified with silver) that avoid the hydrogenation of ethylene to ethane. In an effort to identify catalysts based on less expensive and more available metals, density functional calculations were performed that identified relations in heats of adsorption of hydrocarbon molecules and fragments on metal surfaces. This analysis not only verified the facility of known catalysts but identified nickel-zinc alloys as alternatives. Experimental studies demonstrated that these alloys dispersed on an oxide support were selective for acetylene hydrogenation at low pressures.

Nanoporous magnesium aluminometasilicate tablets for precise, controlled, and continuous dosing of chemical reagents and catalysts: applications in parallel solution-phase synthesis.

Mechanically robust tablets of nanoporous magnesium aluminometasilicate with high surface area and porosity can be loaded with a variety of organic and inorganic reagents and catalysts. The scope of this novel dosing methodology is demonstrated through the evaluation of 14 diverse organic reactions, including Mitsunobu, Suzuki, and bromination reactions.

Crystals in crystals-nanocrystals within mesoporous zeolite single crystals.

A major factor governing the performance of catalytically active particles supported on a zeolite carrier is the degree of dispersion. It is shown that the introduction of noncrystallographic mesopores into zeolite single crystals (silicalite-1, ZSM-5) may increase the degree of particle dispersion. As representative examples, a metal (Pt), an alloy (PtSn), and a metal carbide (beta-Mo(2)C) were supported on conventional and mesoporous zeolite carriers, respectively, and the degree of particle dispersion was compared by TEM imaging. On conventional zeolites, the supported material aggregated on the outer surface of the zeolite particles, particularly after thermal treatment. When using mesoporous zeolites, the particles were evenly distributed throughout the mesopore system of the zeolitic support, even after calcination, leading to nanocrystals within mesoporous zeolite single crystals.