Nickel–Magnesia Catalysts: An Alternative for the Hydrogenation of 1,6-Hexanedinitrile

Two Ni–MgO systems were synthesized and characterized as nickel catalysts for the hydrogenation of 1,6-hexanedinitrile (adiponitrile) in the gas phase. The activity results were compared with those obtained for a commercial Raney–Ni. All three catalysts showed high selectivity to 1,6-hexanediamine, for a total conversion with a maximum of 96% for the Ni–MgO catalyst, which was made from a NiO–MgO solution. However, only Ni–MgO catalysts showed high selectivity to 6-aminohexanenitrile (83 and 77%, respectively) and high conversion (87 and 85%, respectively). The higher selectivity to 6-aminohexanenitrile could be related to the presence of octahedral crystallites in the Ni–MgO catalysts.