Metallic sites, catalyst characterization

Active catalyst sites can consist of a wide variety of species. Major examples are coordination complexes of transition metals, proton acceptors or donors in a solution, and defects at the surface of a metallic, oxidic, or sulphidic catalyst. Chemisorption is one of the most important techniques in catalyst characterization (Overbury et al., 1975 Bartley et al, 1988 Scholten et at, 1985 Van Delft et al, 1985 Weast, 1973 and Bastein et al., 1987), and, as a consequence, it plays an essential role in catalyst design, production and process development. 

Catalyst characterization - Characterization of mixed metal oxides was performed by atomic emission spectroscopy with inductively coupled plasma atomisation (ICP-AES) on a CE Instraments Sorptomatic 1990. NH3-TPD was nsed for the characterization of acid site distribntion. SZ (0.3 g) was heated up to 600°C using He (30 ml min ) to remove adsorbed components. Then, the sample was cooled at room temperatnre and satnrated for 2 h with 100 ml min of 8200 ppm NH3 in He as carrier gas. Snbseqnently, the system was flashed with He at a flowrate of 30 ml min for 2 h. The temperatnre was ramped np to 600°C at a rate of 10°C min. A TCD was used to measure the NH3 desorption profile. Textural properties were established from the N2 adsorption isotherm. Snrface area was calcnlated nsing the BET equation and the pore size was calcnlated nsing the BJH method. The resnlts given in Table 33.4 are in good agreement with varions literature data. 

Entry 8 uses a to-trifluoromethanesulfonamido chelate of methylaluminum as the catalyst. As in Entry 6, the use of a 3,5-dimethylphenyl group in place of phenyl improved enantioselectivity. The ortho-methylphenyl substituent on the maleimide dienophile restricts the potential coordination sites at the metal center. NMR characterization of the reactant-catalyst complex suggests that reaction occurs through the TS shown below. 

The above example outlines a general problem in immobilized molecular catalysts - multiple types of sites are often produced. To this end, we are developing techniques to prepare well-defined immobilized organometallic catalysts on silica supports with isolated catalytic sites (7). Our new strategy is demonstrated by creation of isolated titanium complexes on a mesoporous silica support. These new materials are characterized in detail and their catalytic properties in test reactions (polymerization of ethylene) indicate improved catalytic performance over supported catalysts prepared via conventional means (8). The generality of this catalyst design approach is discussed and additional immobilized metal complex catalysts are considered. 

The active species of the metallocene/MAO catalyst system have now been established as being three-coordinated cationic alkyl complexes [Cp2MR] + (14-electron species). A number of cationic alkyl metallocene complexes have been synthesized with various anionic components. Some structurally characterized complexes are presented in Table 4 [75,76], These cationic Group 4 complexes are coordinatively unsaturated and often stabilized by weak interactions, such as agostic interactions, as well as by cation-anion interactions. Under polymerization conditions such weak interactions smoothly provide the metal sites for monomers. 

Another thermal analysis method available for catalyst characterization is microcalorimetiy, which is based on the measurement of the heat generated or consumed when a gas adsorbs and reacts on the surface of a solid [66-68], This information can be used, for instance, to determine the relative stability among different phases of a solid [69], Microcalorimetiy is also applicable in the measurement of the strengths and distribution of acidic or basic sites as well as for the characterization of metal-based catalysts [66-68], For instance, Figure 1.10 presents microcalorimetry data for ammonia adsorption on H-ZSM-5 and H-mordenite zeolites [70], clearly illustrating the differences in both acid strength (indicated by the different initial adsorption heats) and total number of acidic sites (measured by the total ammonia uptake) between the two catalysts. 

With the ability to obtain information about the concentrations of various types of metal surface sites in complex metal nanocluster catalysts, HRTEM provides new opportunities to include nanoparticle structure and dynamics into fundamental descriptions of the catalyst properties. This chapter is a survey of recent HRTEM investigations that illustrate the possibilities for characterization of catalysts in the functioning state. This chapter is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the applications of TEM to characterize catalysts in reactive atmospheres such reviews are available elsewhere (e.g., 1,8,9 )). Rather, the aim here is to demonstrate the future potential of the technique used in combination with surface science techniques, density functional theory (DFT), other characterization techniques, and catalyst testing. 

The suitability of this adsorption model to characterize quantitative aspects of surface acidic groups gives no indication, however, about the chemical structure of the reactive sites. Only in combination with the chemical probe reactions is it possible to assign the two types of acid sites to carboxylic acid and hydroxy groups, respectively. It is noted that such an approach can also be used to determine ion exchange capacities for metal ion loading required for the generation of dispersed metal-carbon catalyst systems. 

Characterization of Metal Sites on Supported Metal Catalysts. Characterization of supported metals is usually more difficult. Considerable variation can frequently be found in the state of the reduced metal as a result of apparently minor differences in pretreatment, impurities in the support, or residual water or other contaminants. The problem is most severe with readily oxidizable metals. Ni (10), Mo (11), Re (12) and other metals can all show major variations depending on sample pretreatment and reduction procedures. Even in the case of platinum group metals many complications exist. The frequencies of bands observed when CO is adsorbed in a given manner (e.g. "linear" or "bridged") can shift by up to 100 cm 1 with coverage by CO or between different samples. 

For heterogeneous catalysts it is more difficult to study the metal sites and their interaction with reactants under catalytic conditions. Many solid catalysts consist of metal crystallites or oxide particles in a variety of sizes and forms which themselves contain a number of different environments for the metal. Much of the routine characterization of these catalysts takes place before and after, rather than during, the catalytic reaction. Other studies probing surface bound species may have to be carried out under high vacuum rather than under the typical working conditions of the catalyst (see Appendix B for a summary of some relevant aspects of surface science). 

Mo-V-Te and Mo-V-Te-Nb mixed-metal oxide catalysts have been characterized by means of C3H8-TPR and NH3 adsorption calorimetry. All samples were strongly heterogeneous, with initial adsorption heats of = 100-80 kJ moT for the Mo-V-Te samples. Introducing an Nb component into the catalysts slightly decreased the initial adsorption heats to = 60 kJ moT but drastically increased the surface density of weak acid sites (<30kJ moT ) [83]. 

For ferromagnetic cobalt particles in zeolite X, spin-echo ferromagnetic resonance has been used to obtain unique structural information (S6). In addition, study of the catalytic signature of metal/zeolite catalysts has been used by the groups of Jacobs (87), Lunsford (88), and Sachtler (47,73,89). Brpnsted acid protons are identified by their O—H vibration (90,91) in FTIR or indirectly, by using guest molecules such as pyridine or trimethylphosphine (92,93). An ingenious method to characterize acid sites in zeolites was introduced by Kazansky et al., who showed by diffuse reflection IR spectroscopy that physisorbed H2 clearly discerns different types of acid sites (94). Also, the weak adsorption of CO on Brpnsted and Lewis acid sites has been used for their identification by FTIR (95). The characterization of the acid sites was achieved also by proton NMR (96). 

Even though many of these principles appear to be applicable to for multifunctional carboxylates and alkoxides, it is important to recognize that more complex molecules may be more or less influenced by differences in surface conditions than others. Small, monofunctional molecules ably serve to highlight site requirements for some reactions, but there is no reason to expect that a large, multifunctional molecule will necessarily interact with a metal oxide catalyst as a mere combination of its functionalities. Consequently, it is important to characterize the adsorption and synthesis of larger molecules where possible, to determine the limitations of the principles explored here, and to develop an understanding of adsorption and reaction characteristics that will lead to more selective catalysts. 

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