Carbon xerogel supported noble metal catalysts for fine chemical applications

Carbon xerogels are mesoporous materials obtained upon pyrolysis of the dried gels resulting from polycondensation of resorcinol and formaldehyde. Treatment with nitric acid under severe conditions introduces high amounts of oxygen containing functional groups onto the surface of the material, leading however to the collapse of its porous structure. The resulting material is then used to support 1 wt.% Pt, Ir and Ru monometallic catalysts by wet impregnation using organometallic precursors. The catalysts are characterized by N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms at 77 K, temperature programmed desorption coupled with mass spectrometry, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and H2 chemisorption. The liquid-phase selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde to cinnamyl alcohol is used in order to assess the catalytic performance of the prepared materials. Pt and Ru catalysts are initially very selective towards the hydrogenation of the olefinic double bond, while Ir is mostly selective towards the carbonyl group. After a thermal post-reduction treatment at 973 K, selectivity towards cinnamyl alcohol is significantly improved regardless of the metal nature. The Pt catalyst exhibits the best behavior, a complete shift in C=C to C=O hydrogenation being detected. The improvement in selectivity is rationalized in terms of both an increase in metal particle size and a modification in the surface chemistry of the catalyst after the post-reduction treatment.