Hydrogenation catalysts Nickel boride

Benzaldehyde has been hydrogenated on Pd/C(l), Raney nickel and nickel boride (2) catalysts. Baltzly (Ref. 1) measured the rate of hydrogen pressure decrease as a function of time in a batch reactor. He found that the rate of reaction was zero order for both reactants at hydrogen pressures above 3 atm. and benzaldehyde concentrations above 1.0 gmol/1. The rate data was obtained at 22°C in various solvents. No measurements of the products and the benzaldehyde were reported. For the 3% Pd/C catalyst, the rate of reaction was 1.6 x 10 2 gmol/g.min, independent of the type of solvent. 

Hydrogenation catalyst. C. A. Brown1 has compared P-1 nickel boride with W-2 Raney nickel as hydrogenation catalysts and finds that the former is somewhat more active and produces less double-bond migration. In addition it is not... 

Catalysts show remarkable product variation in hydrogenation of simple nitriles. Propionitrile, in neutral, nonreactive media, gives on hydrogenation over rhodium-on-carbon high yields of dipropylamine, whereas high yields of tripropylamine arise from palladium or platinum-catalyzed reductions (71). Parallel results were later found for butyronitrile (2S) and valeronitrile (74) but not for long-chain nitriles. Good yields of primary aliphatic amines can be obtained by use of cobalt, nickel, nickel boride, rhodium, or ruthenium in the presence of ammonia (4J 1,67,68,69). 

Methyl a-D-mannopyranoside was treated in succession with p-toluene-sulfonyl chloride, carbonyl chloride, and benzoyl chloride, and, without isolating the intermediates, there was obtained in 37% yield methyl 4-0-l enzoyl-2,3-O-carbony 1-6-0-(p-tolylsulfonyl ) -D-mannoside. The tos-yloxyl group of the latter was replaced by iodine, and hydrogenation of the 6-iodo derivative in the presence of a nickel boride catalyst gave methyl 4-0-benzoyl-2,3-0-carbonyl-6-deoxy- -D-mannoside. Treatment of the latter with hydrogen bromide in acetic acid gave crystalline 4-0-benzoyl-2,3-0-carbonyl-6-deoxy-a-D-mannosyl bromide (8) (16). The... 

Moreover, stable liquid systems made up of nanoparticles coated with a surfactant monolayer and dispersed in an apolar medium could be employed to catalyze reactions involving both apolar substrates (solubilized in the bulk solvent) and polar and amphiphilic substrates (preferentially encapsulated within the reversed micelles or located at the surfactant palisade layer) or could be used as antiwear additives for lubricants. For example, monodisperse nickel boride catalysts were prepared in water/CTAB/hexanol microemulsions and used directly as the catalysts of styrene hydrogenation [215]. 

In some cases it is necessary to hydrogenate allylic compounds to saturated molecules without hydrogenolysis. It was found that nickel boride is a good catalyst for this purpose.46... 

A catalyst that permits hydrogenation of an alkyne to an alkene is the nickel boride compound called P-2 catalyst. 

In ethanol nickel(II) acetate treated with NaBFLt produces a nearly colloidal black suspension63. Variation of the solvent in the preparation of the nickel catalyst results in an amorphous nickel boride catalyst67,68. This P-2 nickel catalyst is much more sensitive to the double-bond structure69,70. In the hydrogenation of the strained double bonds of nor-bomadienes, P-2 nickel shows high selectivity (95%) and low isomerization characteristics (equations 20 and 21). 

Another highly active non-pyrophoric nickel catalyst is prepared by reduction of nickel acetate in tetrahydrofuran by sodium hydride at 45° in the presence of tert-amyl alcohol (which acts as an activator). Such catalysts, referred to as Nic catalysts, compare with P nickel boride and are suitable for hydrogenations at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, and for partial reduction of acetylenes to civ-alkenes [49]. 

Hydrogenation using Raney nickel is carried out under mild conditions and gives cis alkenes from internal alkynes in yields ranging from 50 to 100% [356, 357, 358, 359, 360]. Half hydrogenation of alkynes was also achieved over nickel prepared by reduction of nickel acetate with sodium borohydride (P-2 nickel, nickel boride) [349,361,362] or by reduction with sodium hydride [49], or by reduction of nickel bromide with potassium-graphite [363]. Other catalysts are palladium on charcoal [364], on barium sulfate [365, 366], on... 

O-p-tolylsulfonyl-a-D-mannoside (39) in 37% yield. Treatment of (39) with sodium iodide in acetone gave the 6-iodo derivative (40), which underwent reduction with hydrogen in the presence of a nickel boride" catalyst" to give methyl 4-0-benzoyl-2,3-0 carbonyl-6-deoxy-o>-D-manno-side (41) in 95% yield. Reaction of (41) with hydrogen bromide in acetic acid effected replacement of the methoxyl group at C-l, affording crystalline... 

Unsaturated aldehydes.4 A nickel boride catalyst similar to P-2 nickel boride is obtained by reaction of NiCl2 and excess NaBH4 in C2H5OH. It effects selective hydrogenation of a,P-alkynal acetals to the (Z)-a,p-alkenal acetals. 

When one component of a bimetallic alloy is leached out, a finely divided metal powder of high surface area results. One of the oldest of these so-called skeletal metal catalysts is Raney nickel10,11. Nickel boride is a more recently developed hydrogenation catalyst prepared by the reduction of nickel salts with sodium borohydride12-14. Bimetallic catalysts are often used to achieve selective saturation of a double bond in bifunctional unsaturated systems, e.g. in dienes. Amorphous metal alloys, a newly developed class of metal catalysts15,16, have also been applied in the hydrogenation of alkenes and dienes. 

Hydrogenation of an alkyne can be stopped at the alkene stage by using a poisoned (partially deactivated) catalyst made by treating a good catalyst with a compound that makes the catalyst less effective. Lindlar s catalyst is a poisoned palladium catalyst, composed of powdered barium sulfate coated with palladium, poisoned with quinoline. Nickel boride (Ni2B) is a newer alternative to Lindlar s catalyst that is more easily made and often gives better yields. 

Nakano and Fujishige prepared a colloidal nickel boride catalyst by reducing nickel chloride with sodium borohydride in ethanol in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone) as a protective colloid.83 Catalytic activity of the colloidal catalyst was higher than P-2 Ni boride for the hydrogenation of acrylamide and markedly enhanced by the addition of sodium hydroxide in the hydrogenation of acetone.84... 

Brown et al.18,19 and Brunet et al.20 studied the rates of hydrogenation of various olefinic compounds over P-1 and P-2 nickel borides and over a nickel catalyst designated Nic, obtained from NaH-f-PeONa-Ni(OAc)2, respectively, in ethanol at 25°C and 1 atm H2 (Table 3.1). Over P-1 Ni, the decrease in the rate of hydrogenation with 2-methyl-l-... 

TABLE 3.1 Rates of Hydrogenation of Alkenes over P-1 and P-2 Nickel Boride and Nic Catalysts... 

Unhindered simple olefins are usually rapidly hydrogenated under very mild conditions over platinum metal catalysts such as platinum, palladium, and rhodium as well as over active nickel catalysts such as Raney Ni, nickel boride, and Urushibara Ni. For example, 0.1 mol of cyclohexene is hydrogenated in 7 min over 0.05 g of Adams platinum oxide in ethanol at 25°C and 0.2-0.3 MPa H2 (eq. 3.1).5 1-Octene and cyclopentene (eq. 3.2) are hydrogenated in rates of 11.5 and 8.6 mmol (258 and 193 ml H2 at STP) g Ni 1-min 1, respectively, over P-1 Ni in ethanol at 25°C and 1 atm H2.18 Hydrogenation of cyclohexene over active Raney Ni proceeds at rates of 96-100 ml H2 at STP (4.3-4.5 mmol) g Ni min-1 in methanol at 25°C and 1 atm H2 49,50 and can be completed within a short time, although usually larger catalyst substrate ratios than required for platinum catalyzed hydrogenations are employed (eq. 3.3).50... 

High yields of primary amines have also been obtained over cobalt boride as catalyst,26,53,54 which has been found to be not only highly selective but also less inhibited by solvent and ammonia than other cobalt and nickel catalysts in hydrogenation of nitriles.26 The hydrogenation of propionitrile in isopropyl alcohol over cobalt boride (5% on C) in the presence of 15 1 molar ratio of ammonia to the nitrile gave propylamine in a high yield of 99% (eq. 7.29). 

P-1 Ni16 and P-1 Co17 boride catalysts have also proved to be good catalysts for the hydrogenation of aromatic hydrocarbons. Table 11.3 compares the activities of these nickel and cobalt catalysts in the hydrogenation of some aromatic hydrocarbons in hydrocarbon solvent at 80°C and the initial hydrogen pressure of 7.8 MPa.18 It is noted that, as in the cases of Raney Ni and Raney Co, P-1 Co boride is generally more active than P-1 Ni boride, except for o-xylene. 

Alternative catalysts such as palladium-on-barium sulfate (poisoned by synthetic quinoline) (24), "P-2" nickel boride (with ethylenediamine) (25), and other nickel catalysts (19c) can be used in place of Lindlar catalyst. However, in our hands selective hydrogenation of triple bonds to Z olefins proceeds with the greatest stereoselectivity with Lindlar catalyst. Palladium-on-barium sulfate (in ethanol with quinoline) can give considerable over-reduction and isomerization to the E isomer (22a). Use of "P-2" nickel boride as the catalyst at room temperature usually gives a. 2% of the J5 isomer (e.g. 23). 

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