Researchers from Zelinsky Institute published a review summarizing recent advances in the use of heterogeneous catalysts based on iron and its oxides in hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis reactions

Recently, a tendecy to reduce the content of noble metals, such as Pt, Pd, Rh, etc., and / or to completely replace them with base metals as part of heterogeneous catalysts for selective hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis — important industrial processes— has been observed. Fe nanoparticles and its oxides, as well as bimetallic particles based on them are of particular interest. They are already successfully applied in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, dechlorination and dehydrogenation reactions. Iron-based catalysts are cheap, non-toxic, available and possess unique magnetic properties. That is why there is an urgent need to develop new approaches to the preparation and use of effective iron-containing catalytic systems.

This review outlines the recent achievements in the application of iron and its oxides-based heterogeneous catalysts in hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis processes, including studies of researchers from Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry. Special attention was paid to the investigation of catalytic properties of bimetallic catalytic systems Fe-M (Pt, Pd, Cu), in particular, interrelation between the redistribution of electron density between metals in bimetallic catalysts, representing a combination of metallic nanoparticles of a noble metal (Pd, Pt) and Fe or FeOx, and their activity/selectivity in reactions involving hydrogen: selective hydrogenation of triple C≡C bonds, nitro and carbonyl groups.

Source:

A. Shesterkina, L. Kustov, A. Strekalova, V. Kazansky Heterogeneous iron-containing nanocatalysts – promising systems for selective hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2020, in press. DOI: 10.1039/D0CY00086H.