LGC-NCE/CiTOS – Master Thesis 2015-2016
Development of highly porous supported catalysts for catalytic hydrogenation in microreactors
Continuous-flow microreaction technology, i.e. the use of microstructured reactors to perform chemical
transformations, has emerged over the past few years as one of the most promising technology to
conduct challenging transformations on a preparative scale. The intrinsic properties of microreactors in
terms of mass and heat transfer have enabled the exquisite control of highly exothermic processes
and/or processes involving toxic or dangerous chemicals. Their continuous nature allows a fast transfer
between lab-scale research and industrial developments.
Among the wide variety of chemical transformations, hydrogenation remains one of the most commonly
performed on a daily base in industry. However, the handling of hydrogen on a large scale raises
significant safety hazards, especially in batch reactors. Hydrogenation in flow microreactors has been
recently studied as a safe and reliable alternative to known batch procedures.[1-5]
Hydrogenation usually requires a source of molecular hydrogen and a catalyst, which can be either
homogeneous or heterogeneous. The high performance of homogeneous catalysts in flow microreactors
has been already demonstrated, although their use implies complex and thorough purifications of the
reaction effluent. Heterogeneous catalysts are usually more challenging to implement in flow reactors
(clogging, high pressure drop, low efficiency).[5] In this context, we propose the development of new
catalytic matrices for the hydrogenation of various substrates in continuous-flow microreactors.
In this research proposal, the researcher will develop new catalytic matrices with high surface-to-volume
ratios and study their behavior as heterogeneous catalysts for applications in flow microreactors. In
particular, the hydrogenation of various organic substrates will be studied and the performance of the
catalytic matrices will be compared with known commercial standards.
References:
[1]
Irfan M, Glasnov TN, Kappe CO. Heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation reactions in
continuous-flow reactors. ChemSusChem 2011, 4, 300–16.
[2]
Dencic I, Hessel V, de Croon MHJM, Meuldijk J, van der Doelen CWJ, Koch K. Recent
changes in patenting behavior in microprocess technology and its possible use for
gasliquid reactions and the oxidation of glucose. ChemSusChem 2012, 5, 232–45.
[3]
Sachse A, Linares N, Barbaro P, Fajula F, Galarneau A. Selective hydrogenation over
Pd
nanoparticles supported on a pore-flow-through silica monolith microreactor with
hierarchical
porosity. Dalton Trans 2013, 42, 1378–84.
[4]
Mercadante MA, Kelly CB, Lee C, Leadbeater NE. Continuous flow hydrogenation
using
an on-demand gas delivery reactor. Org Process Res Dev 2012, 16, 1064–8.
[5]
O’Brien M, Taylor N, Polyzos A, Baxendale IR, Ley S V. Hydrogenation in flow:
Homogeneous
and heterogeneous catalysis using Teflon AF-2400 to effect gas–liquid contact at elevated pressure.
Chem Sci 2011, 2, 1250–7.