Boron Modified Bifunctional Cu/SiO2 Catalysts with Enhanced Metal Dispersion and Surface Acid Sites for Selective Hydrogenation of Dimethyl Oxalate to Ethylene Glycol and Ethanol

Selective Hydrogenation of Dimethyl Oxalate to Methyl Glycolate over Boron-Modified Ag/SiO2 Catalysts

The addition of boron (B) as a promoter to the Ag/SiO₂ catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate (DMO) to methyl glycolate (MG) was investigated. A comparison of the preparation method for incorporation of B found that the addition during the ammonia evaporation deposition-precipitation synthesis of the Ag/SiO₂ catalyst (Ag-B/SiO₂) was inferior to incipient wetness impregnation introduction of the Ag/SiO₂ catalyst (B/Ag/SiO₂). Moreover, the effects of B contents (0.5-5 wt %) on the physicochemical properties and catalytic performance of the B/Ag/SiO₂ catalysts were investigated by XRF, N₂-physisorption, XRD, FTIR, TEM, EDX mapping, H₂-TPR, NH₃-TPD, XPS, and catalytic testing. The results indicated that both the catalytic activity and stability of the Ag/SiO₂ catalyst were noticeably enhanced after the introduction of B. The B/Ag/SiO₂ catalyst with 1 wt % B showed the best catalytic performance of 100% DMO conversion and 88.3% MG selectivity, which could be attributed to the highest dispersion of the active metal and the smallest Ag particle size stabilized by the strong interaction between silver and boron species.