One-pot synthesis of nitrogen and sulfur co-doped activated carbon supported AuCl 3 as efficient catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination

Efficient and stable N-heterocyclic ketone-Cu complex catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination: the promotion effect of ligands revealed from DFT calculations

Cu-based catalysts are a promising alternative to toxic mercury catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination, but their effectiveness is limited due to the poor dispersion and deactivation caused by reduction, agglomeration, and carbon deposition. In this study, the activity and stability of carbon-supported CuCl2 catalysts were largely improved by introducing N-heterocyclic ketones. Remarkably, N-methyl-2-pyridone (NM2P) coordinated Cu-based catalysts exhibited over 95% acetylene conversion with better stability under the reaction conditions of T = 180 °C, GHSV (C2H2) of 80 h-1, and VHCl/VC2H2 = 1.2. The combined results of characterization and exhaustive density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the O-Cu coordination between the NM2P ligand and Cu cation strengthened the combination of reactants and Cu active sites, lowering the key reaction energy barrier, thereby leading to high activity. Meanwhile, the addition of the NM2P ligand significantly inhibited the reduction of Cu2+ to Cu+/Cu0, avoiding the formation of CuCl aggregates and the coking caused by Cu0, enhancing the catalytic stability. Overall, our study provides important insights into the design and optimization of Cu-based catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination.

Sulfur Promotion in Au/C Catalyzed Acetylene Hydrochlorination

The formation of highly active and stable acetylene hydrochlorination catalysts is of great industrial importance. The successful replacement of the highly toxic mercuric chloride catalyst with gold has led to a flurry of research in this area. One key aspect, which led to the commercialization of the gold catalyst is the use of thiosulphate as a stabilizing ligand. This study investigates the use of a range of sulfur containing compounds as promoters for production of highly active Au/C catalysts. Promotion is observed across a range of metal sulfates, non-metal sulfates, and sulfuric acid treatments. This observed enhancement can be optimized by careful consideration of either pre- or post-treatments, concentration of dopants used, and modification of washing steps. Pre-treatment of the carbon support with sulfuric acid (0.76 m) resulted in the most active Au/C in this series with an acetylene conversion of ≈70% at 200 °C.

A structured catalyst with high dispersity of Au species based on hollow SiC foam with porous walls for acetylene hydrochlorination

It is essential to improve the catalytic stability of Au-based catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination. In this study, a novel hollow SiC foam with porous walls (HSF_p) is proposed to modify the Au catalyst distribution on the foam-based structured catalyst. The scanning electron microscopy and 3D X-ray tomography results showed that the hollow structure and the porous ceramic wall of HSF_p were successfully obtained. An Au/AC/HSF structured catalyst was prepared by the slurry-coating and impregnation method. Then the effects of the wall pore structure of HSF_p on the distribution of Au species and the stability of the catalyst were studied by comparison with a hollow SiC foam with compact walls (HSF_c). The HSF_p with 3D interconnected hollow channel structure was demonstrated to have a promotion effect on the reaction stability due to its ability to refine the catalyst particles during the impregnation and drying processes. The result indicates that the time on stream of acetylene conversion above 90% over the Au/AC/HSF_p structured catalyst reaches about 380 h at an acetylene gaseous hourly space velocity of 130 h⁻¹, which is much longer than that of the Au/AC/HSF_c. In addition, a bidirectional diffusion effect that can enhance the catalyst distribution by the porous wall of HSF was proposed in this paper. This may have positive significance in the field of preparation of structured catalysts.

A bidirectional drying to achieve high dispersity of structured catalysts using hollow SiC foam with porous walls.

Adsorption Behavior and Electron Structure Engineering of Pd-Based Catalysts for Acetylene Hydrochlorination

Adsorption and activation for substrates and the stability of Pd species in Pd-based catalysts are imperative for their wider adoption in industrial and practical applications. However, the influence factor of these aspects has remained unclear. This indicates a need to understand the various perceptions of the structure–function relationship that exists between microstructure and catalytic performance. Herein, we revisit the catalytic performance of supported-ionic-liquid-phase stabilized Pd-based catalysts with nitrogen-containing ligands as a promoter for acetylene hydrochlorination, and try to figure out their regulation. We found that the absolute value of the differential energy, |Eads(C2H2)-Eads(HCl)|, is negative correlated with the stability of palladium catalysts. These findings imply that the optimization of the electron structure provides a new strategy for designing highly active yet durable Pd-based catalysts.

Synergy between Ionic Liquids and CuCl2 in Gas–Liquid Phase Reactions of Acetylene Hydrochlorination

We studied the acetylene hydrochlorination in gas–liquid phase reactions using ionic liquids (IL) as the reaction media and CuCl2 as the catalyst. The Cu-IL catalyst showed strong synergy between the IL and the Cu(II) active catalytic species. For [PrMIm]Cl, the Cu-IL catalyst exhibited significant enhancement of the catalytic activity in comparison with the CuCl2 catalyst supported on activated carbon and the IL alone as the catalyst. We have also performed DFT calculations of the reaction process, which provides a good explanation of our experimental results and for the synergetic effect. Our result suggests that ILs may be used to improve the activity of other metallic catalysts for the hydrochlorination reaction of acetylene.

Highly Active AuCu-Based Catalysts for Acetylene Hydrochlorination Prepared Using Organic Aqua Regia

Development of a sustainable process for designing and synthesising an active and stable catalyst for hydrochlorination of acetylene is challenging, yet crucial, for industrial vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) production. Herein, direct synthesis of bimetallic AuCu catalysts using organic aqua regia (OAR) preparation methods was investigated. In comparison with conventional aqua regia (AR), bimetallic AuCu catalysts synthesised from OAR exhibit enhanced activity and stability. After careful characterisation of the catalyst samples using X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), this observation was justified for the following reasons: 1) the existence of sulphur and nitrogen atoms stabilised the cationic Au active sites, and 2) OAR helped to sustain the function of the Cu promotor by stabilising it. Advanced understanding on the importance of promoter stability has unveiled new perspectives for this research area.

Acetylene hydrochlorination using Au/carbon: a journey towards single site catalysis

The replacement of mercuric chloride in the production of vinyl chloride monomer, a precursor to PVC, would greatly reduce the environmental impact of this large scale industrial process.