Can Ni phosphides become viable hydroprocessing catalysts?

Unexpected sintering of small supported Ni2P under real feed conditions

2 nm well dispersed supported nickel phosphides have been made using hypophosphorous acid in the presence of organic components.

Dialing in single-site reactivity of a supported calixarene-protected tetrairidium cluster catalyst

A closed Ir₄ carbonyl cluster, 1, comprising a tetrahedral metal frame and three sterically bulky tert-butyl-calix[4]arene(OPr)₃(OCH₂PPh₂) (Ph = phenyl; Pr = propyl) ligands at the basal plane, was characterized with variable-temperature ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, which show the absence of scrambling of the CO ligands at temperatures up to 313 K. This demonstration of distinct sites for the CO ligands was found to extend to the reactivity and catalytic properties, as shown by selective decarbonylation in a reaction with trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) as an oxidant, which, reacting in the presence of ethylene, leads to the selective bonding of an ethyl ligand at the apical Ir site. These clusters were supported intact on porous silica and found to catalyze ethylene hydrogenation, and a comparison of the kinetics of the single-hydrogenation reaction and steady-state hydrogenation catalysis demonstrates a unique single-site catalyst-with each site having the same catalytic activity. Reaction orders in the catalytic ethylene hydrogenation reaction of approximately 1/2 and 0 for H₂ and C₂H₄, respectively, nearly match those for conventional noble-metal catalysts. In contrast to oxidative decarbonylation, thermal desorption of CO from silica-supported cluster 1 occurred exclusively at the basal plane, giving rise to sites that do not react with ethylene and are catalytically inactive for ethylene hydrogenation. The evidence of distinctive sites on the cluster catalyst leads to a model that links to hydrogen-transfer catalysis on metals-involving some surface sites that bond to both hydrocarbon and hydrogen and are catalytically engaged (so-called "*" sites) and others, at the basal plane, which bond hydrogen and CO but not hydrocarbon and are reservoir sites (so-called "S" sites).

New methods for the preparation of nanoscale nickel phosphide catalysts for heteroatom removal reactions

Recent advances in the preparation of nickel phosphide (Ni₂P) catalysts from hypophosphite-based precursors have resulted in high HDS and HDN activities.