Catalyst selectivity and stability

The hydroformylation of olefins is one of the largest and most prominent industrial catalytic processes, producing millions of tons of aldehydes annually [102]. Initially, cobalt-carbonyl species were used as catalyst, though rhodium complexes modified by special ligands, usually phosphines, are predominantly used nowadays. Over the last two decades, continued development of new phosphine and phosphite ligands has allowed significant advances in hydroformylation chemistry, especially with respect to catalyst selectivity and stability [103]. 

Taking into account the nature of the Wacker concept (305), it is evident that early work is available with Pd2+ and Cu2+ ion-exchanged zeolites (306-308). Because ion exchange was done with Pd(NH3)42+, it was not clear whether residual ammonia was an essential requirement for good catalyst selectivity and stability (Scheme 3). 

The catalyst selectivity and stability are largely determined by the competition between propylene deep dehydrogenation and propylene desorption. Since these two reactions are parallel competing reactions, the catalyst selectivity can be defined as the activation energy difference between... 

In addition to having the required spedfidty, lipases employed as catalysts for modification of triglycerides must be stable and active under the reaction conditions used. Lipases are usually attached to supports (ie they are immobilised). Catalyst activity and stability depend, therefore, not only on the lipase, but also the support used for its immobilisation. Interesterification reactions are generally run at temperatures up to 70°C with low water availability. Fortunately many immobilised lipases are active and resistant to heat inactivation under conditions of low water availability, but they can be susceptible to inactivation by minor components in oils and fats. If possible, lipases resistant to this type of poisoning should be selected for commercial operations. 

One promising extension of this approach Is surface modification by additives and their Influence on reaction kinetics. Catalyst activity and stability under process conditions can be dramatically affected by Impurities In the feed streams ( ). Impurities (promoters) are often added to the feed Intentionally In order to selectively enhance a particular reaction channel (.9) as well as to Increase the catalyst s resistance to poisons. The selectivity and/or poison tolerance of a catalyst can often times be Improved by alloying with other metals (8,10). Although the effects of Impurities or of alloying are well recognized In catalyst formulation and utilization, little Is known about the fundamental mechanisms by which these surface modifications alter catalytic chemistry. 

The catalyst activity, selectivity, and stability are simultaneously influenced by the H2 to CCI2F2 feed ratio. Also the time needed to reach a steady-state catalyst performance depends... 

Previous studies on the use of Anchored Homogeneous Catalysts (AHC s) have been concerned with studying the effect which different reaction variables had on the activity, selectivity and stability of these catalysts (1-9). These reactions were typically ran at relatively low substrate/catalyst ratios (turnover numbers-TON s), usually between 50 and 100. While these low TON reactions made it possible to obtain a great deal of information concerning the AHC s, in order to establish that these catalysts could be used in commercial applications it was necessary to apply them to reactions at much higher TON S and, also, to make direct comparisons with the corresponding homogeneous catalyst under the same reaction conditions. 

Many of these problems disappeared in 1983 when Taramasso, Perego, and Notari synthesized titanium silicalite-1 (TS-1),1 which greatly affected the use of zeolite catalysts for practical oxidation chemistry. This catalyst shows outstanding activity, selectivity, and stability below 100°C. 

There are, then, three critical requirements of any catalyst if it is to be exploited on a commercial scale these are activity, selectivity and stability. It has been widely demonstrated and generally accepted that homogeneous catalysts are superior to their heterogeneous counterparts in terms of both activity (certainly under mild reaction conditions) and selectivity (the classical example is chiral catalysis). 

Catalysts may be metals, oxides, zeolites, sulfides, carbides, organometallic complexes, enzymes, etc. The principal properties of a catalyst are its activity, selectivity, and stability. Chemical promoters may be added to optimize the quality of a catalyst, while structural promoters improve the mechanical properties and stabilize the particles against sintering. As a result, catalysts may be quite complex. Moreover, the state of the catalytic surface often depends on the conditions under which it is used. Spectroscopy, microscopy, diffraction and reaction techniques offer tools to investigate what the active catalyst looks like. 

There are reports of numerous examples of dendritic transition metal catalysts incorporating various dendritic backbones functionalized at various locations. Dendritic effects in catalysis include increased or decreased activity, selectivity, and stability. It is clear from the contributions of many research groups that dendrimers are suitable supports for recyclable transition metal catalysts. Separation and/or recycle of the catalysts are possible with these functionalized dendrimers for example, separation results from precipitation of the dendrimer from the product liquid two-phase catalysis allows separation and recycle of the catalyst when the products and catalyst are concentrated in two immiscible liquid phases and immobilization of the dendrimer in an insoluble support (such as crosslinked polystyrene or silica) allows use of a fixed-bed reactor holding the catalyst and excluding it from the product stream. Furthermore, the large size and the globular structure of the dendrimers enable efficient separation by nanofiltration techniques. Nanofiltration can be performed either batch wise or in a continuous-flow membrane reactor (CFMR). 

The choice of a catalyst is based on different criteria such as activity, selectivity and stability. In addition to these fundamental properties, industrial applications require that the catalyst is mechanically and thermally stable, regenerable and inexpensive and possesses suitable morphological characteristics [39]. 

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