Grafted catalysts, catalytic activity

Amphiphilic resin supported ruthenium(II) complexes similar to those displayed in structure 1 were employed as recyclable catalysts for dimethylformamide production from supercritical C02 itself [96]. Tertiary phosphines were attached to crosslinked polystyrene-poly(ethyleneglycol) graft copolymers (PS-PEG resin) with amino groups to form an immobilized chelating phosphine. In this case recycling was not particularly effective as catalytic activity declined with each subsequent cycle, probably due to oxidation of the phosphines and metal leaching. 

The catalysis of this reaction by grafted copolymer in comparison with well-known catalysts such as /(-toluene sulfoacid, and cross-linked sulfonated polystyrene was investigated. The yield of mono- and disubstituted products is shown in Table 7.2. The specific catalytic activity of grafted copolymers is 100 times or even higher than the same values for the other catalysts. This also can be related to the much higher level of acidity of perfluoroalkyl sulfoacid. 

Catalytic activity in olefin polymerization is related to the presence of cationic metal-hydrocarbyl species [90], which can be obtained by (i) using oxide supports that have high Br0nsted and Lewis acidity, (ii) the addition of a co-catalyst to a neutral supported species or (iii) modification of the surface with Lewis acid cocatalysts prior to grafting of the metal-hydrocarbyl species (Scheme 11.8a-c) [91-97]. 

The use of dimethyldichlorosilane as a coupling agent for the grafting of VOx structures on the MCM-48 surface, produces a material that is simultaneously hydrophobic (inmiscible with water) and very active (all V-centers are accessible, even for water molecules and the catalytic activity for methanol oxidation has increased). The VOx surface species are grafted by the Molecular Designed Dispersion of VO(acac)2 on the silylated surface, followed by a calcination in air at 450°C. These hydrophobic MCM-48 supported VOx catalysts are stable up to 500°C and show a dramatic reduction in the leaching of the V-centers in aqueous media. Also the structural stability has improved enormously. The crystallinity of the materials does not decrease significantly, even not when the samples are subjected to a hydrothermal treatment at 160°C and 6.1 atm. pressure. 

In the present work the synthesis of highly dispersed niobium or titanium containing mesoporous molecular sieves catalyst by direct grafting of different niobium and titanium compounds is reported. Grafting is achieved by anchoring the desired compounds on the surface hydroxyl groups located on the inner and outer surface of siliceous MCM-41 and MCM-48 mesoporous molecular sieves. Catalytic activity was evaluated in the liquid phase epoxidation of a-pinene with hydrogen peroxide as oxidant and the results are compared with widely studied titanium silicalites. The emphasis is directed mainly on catalytic applications of niobium or titanium anchored material to add a more detailed view on their structural physicochemical properties. 

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