Catalysis of Organic..

Wolf, Seebald and Tacke 48755. Accelerated Identification of the PreferredPrecious Metal Powder Catalysts for SelectiveHydrogenation of Multi-functional SubstratesAbstractDorit Wolf, Steffen Seebald and Thomas TackeDegussa AG, Exclusive Synthesis & Catalysts EC-KA-RD-WGRodenbacher Chaussee 4, 63457 Hanau (Wolfgang)dorit.wolf@degussa.comA heuristic method (so called “profiling analysis”) was developed. The method isbased on a large library of precious metal powder catalysts with different metal loading,metal dispersion, degree of reduction and functionalities of support materialsand a data base comprising activity data from hydrogenation of mono-functional substrates.The data base allows the fast identification of potential catalysts for hydrogenationof multifunctional substrates from the library. In the presentation the usage ofthe profiling method is demonstrated for identification of a highly selective catalystfor hydroxyl-olefin hydrogenation to the hydroxy-alkane.IntroductionThe development of heterogeneous catalysts is related to the challenge that solid propertiesdetermining the catalytic properties are not easily accessible. This is especiallytrue for fine tuning of selectivity and long-term catalytic stability wheregradual changes by 1 % are already of importance. Regardless, the fact that catalystsdo not show obvious differences with respect to solid properties (e. g. metal particlesize, particle dispersion or solid phase and oxidation state of the active metal) theyoften reveal differences in their catalytic behaviour. For industrial application ofcatalysts in fine chemistry these circumstances are serious obstacles for a straightforwardrational development and the identification of suitable catalysts for conversionof certain substrates [1].Against this background, a method (so called “catalytic performance profiling”) wasdeveloped with which catalytic characteristics of heterogeneous catalysts for finechemical application can be efficiently elucidated. The catalytic performance profilingmethod introduced in the presentation is a heuristic method which takes intoaccount for the complexity of the relationship between catalyst preparation methodand catalytic performance in a large diversity of classes of reactions of (multifunctional)substrates. For this purpose catalytic tests with a variety of reactions areperformed. The particular performance values of the catalytic reactions are summarizedby catalytic performance profiles which are unique fingerprint for individualcatalysts allowing a fast identification of strength and weaknesses of a catalyst.