Intercalation catalysts, selectivity

The intercalated catalysts can often be regarded as biomimetic oxidation catalysts. The intercalation of cationic metal complexes in the interlamellar space of clays often leads to increased catalytic activity and selectivity, due to the limited orientations by which the molecules are forced to accommodate themselves between sheets. The clays have electrostatic fields in their interlayer therefore, the intercalated metal complexes are more positively charged. Such complexes may show different behavior. For example, cationic Rh complexes catalyze the regioselective hydrogenation of carbonyl groups, whereas neutral complexes are not active.149 Cis-Alkenes are hydrogenated preferentially on bipyridyl-Pd(II) acetate intercalated in montmorillonite.150 The same catalyst was also used for the reduction of nitrobenzene.151... 

In 1976, Lalancette et al. studied228 the catalytic activity of graphite intercalated AICI3 and compared it with neat AICI3 in solution-phase alkylations. Whereas the rate of alkylation slowed down using the intercalated catalyst, a higher selectivity toward monoalkylation was found (Table 5.13). 

Trade et al. [56] used cationic bis(oxazoHne)-Cu(II) complexes, intercalated into lamellar clays by electrostatic interactions, as catalysts for C - C bond formation reactions. Interestingly, the heterogeneous catalysts led to higher conversions and selectivities than their homogeneous coimterparts. 

Subsequently the intercalates - without prior ejqposure to air - were reduced either by hydrogen gas or using potassium naphthalide in THF. (3U) Clearly the choice of intercalation and reduction temperature will control the nature of the final product. These materials were then e qposed to air. Some of the results obtained are given in Table IV. Clearly catalyst B in its hi conversion and selectivity to acetylene demonstrates mique properties. 

When supported complexes are the catalysts, two types of ionic solid were used zeolites and clays. The structures of these solids (microporous and lamellar respectively) help to improve the stability of the complex catalyst under the reaction conditions by preventing the catalytic species from undergoing dimerization or aggregation, both phenomena which are known to be deactivating. In some cases, the pore walls can tune the selectivity of the reaction by steric effects. The strong similarities of zeolites with the protein portion of natural enzymes was emphasized by Herron.20 The protein protects the active site from side reactions, sieves the substrate molecules, and provides a stereochemically demanding void. Metal complexes have been encapsulated in zeolites, successfully mimicking metalloenzymes for oxidation reactions. Two methods of synthesis of such encapsulated/intercalated complexes have been tested, as follows. 

A new stereoselective epoxidation catalyst based on a novel chiral sulfonato-salen manganese(III) complex intercalated in Zn/Al LDH was used successfully by Bhattacharjee et al. [125]. The catalyst gave high conversion, selectivity, and enantiomeric excess in the oxidation of (i )-limonene using elevated pressures of molecular oxygen. Details of the catalytic activities with other alkenes using both molecular oxygen and other oxidants have also been reported [126]. 

Recently, Corma et al. have patented a process of oxidizing cycloalkane with molecular oxygen to produce cycloalkanol and/or cycloalkanone in the presence of hydrotalcite-intercalated heteropoly anion [Co MnCo (H20)039] (M = W or Mo), which comprised one cobalt as a central atom and another as a substitute of a W=0 fragment in the Keggin structure [98]. At 130 °C and 0.5 MPa, 64 and 24% selectivity to cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol, respectively, was achieved at cyclohexane conversion about 5%. This catalytic system could be of practical importance provided a true heterogeneous nature of catalysis and good catalyst recyclability had been proved. Unfortunately, this information was lacking in [98]. 

In principle, all the kinetic concepts of intercalation introduced for layer-structured silicates hold for zeolites as well. Swelling, of course, is not found because of the rigidity of the three dimensional frame. The practical importance of zeolites as molecular sieves, cation exchangers, and catalysts (cracking and hydrocracking in petroleum industry) is enormous. Molecular shape-selective transport (large differences in diffusivities) and micro-environmental catalysis (in cages and channels)... 

More recently, various attempts have been made to develop cracking catalysts from pillared smectite clays, in which the layers are separated and held apart by the intercalation of large cations. Pillared clays (PILCs) have large surface areas within fairly well-ordered micropore structures (pore widths in die approximate range 0.6-1.2 nm). It is not surprising that these materials have attracted considerable interest with the prospect of an alternative type of catalytic shape selectivity (Thomas, 1994 Thomas etal., 1997 Fripiat, 1997). 

Phosphates having these types of open structures can act as shape-selective acid catalysts, for example, for the cracking and isomerization of hydrocarbons. For examples of lamellar materials, see Section 5.3 and see Intercalation Chemistry). Microporous catalysts are described above and in (see Porous Inorganic Materials and Zeolites). Mesoporous AlPO materials have larger pores within a matrix of amorphous A1P04. ... 

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