Graphite potassium alloys

Use of potassium graphite or caesium graphite to generate methylborylene is uneventful, while use of sodium-potassium alloy (1 5 mol) caused an explosion in 2 out of 5 attempts. 

Non-fused iron catalysts have been studied earlier. The famous Uhde catalyst was KAl (Fe(CN)6), which was used, to be applied in industry. It was abandoned because of its poor stability, and up to now there are still reports about its modifications. Intermetallic compound and alloy catalysts, such as LaNij, FeTi, Fe2Ce and FeZr etc., were also expected to be prospective, but until now they have not been put into practice. In 1970s, the well-known electron donor-acceptor (EDA) catalysts, e.g., phthalocyanine iron-alkali metal, molysite — graphite — potassium and ferrocene-activated carbon-potassium catalyst systems, were found to have the ability to synthesize ammonia under mild conditions in the laboratory. Unfortunately, their activities declined rapidly in the experiments of scale-up. The application of EDA catalysts in industry turned to be a visionary. Therefore, replacement of fused iron catalyst is not an easy thing for a very long time. 

With special techniques for the activation of the metal—e.g. for removal of the oxide layer, and the preparation of finely dispersed metal—the scope of the Refor-matsky reaction has been broadened, and yields have been markedly improved." The attempted activation of zinc by treatment with iodine or dibromomethane, or washing with dilute hydrochloric acid prior to use, often is only moderately successful. Much more effective is the use of special alloys—e.g. zinc-copper couple, or the reduction of zinc halides using potassium (the so-called Rieke procedure ) or potassium graphite. The application of ultrasound has also been reported. ... 

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