Study Of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube-Supported Platinum Catalyst For Selective Hydrogenation Of The Carbonyl Function On An (α,β-Unsaturated Aldehyde

Supported Pt-metal catalysts are of immense commercial importance for hydrogenation reactions. The fine chemicals industry relies on special catalysts that selectively hydrogenate specific bonds or chemical functions on molecules. The activity, selectivity, lifetime, etc. of a supported hydrogenation catalyst is wellknown to depend strongly on the chosen support, but systematic studies of the role of the support and of support-metal interactions are lacking in the literature. The purpose of this work is to examine in detail the function of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) as support for a Pt catalyst, in the context of a selective hydrogenation reaction. The test reaction consists of the hydrogenation of the carbonyl group on 3-methyl-2- butenal, a reaction extensively studied on well-characterized Pt surfaces and also unsupported polycrystalline Pt. This reaction, which follows a parallel/consecutive reaction network (Fig. 1), represents a class of selective hydrogenation reactions of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes that are important in the fine chemicals industry for flavorings, fragrances, and some pharmaceuticals.