European researchers claim to have developed a supported palladium catalyst for highly selective partial hydrogenations.

The catalyst is based on palladium particles supported on hydrophilic carbon and was manufactured in an aqueous one-pot reaction by a process known as hydrothermal carbonisation.

According to a report from The Royal Society of Chemistry, the catalyst exhibits high sensitivity towards batch partial hydrogenation of phenolic compound and was used by the team in tests to form cyclohexanone.

Traditionally, cyclohexanone is prepared from phenol with a supported palladium catalyst in the gas stage, but this has proved difficult in batch reactors and functional phenolic compounds are difficult to hydrogenate selectively.

Meanwhile, very few studies have reported successful reactions in a liquid phase, since the selectivity of the hydrogenation is poor, and this makes the separation steps more difficult.

However, according to Professor Fred Goettmann of the Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces who lead the research, the new "catalyst opens the possibility to test all these reactions directly in water, and, possibly, to observe alternative selectivities".

The German research facility collaborated with the Institut de Chime Separative de Marcoule in France.

Source:

Going for green, 22/01/08
http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ChemTech/Volume/2008/03/Going_green.asp

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