Strem Chemicals and BASF work together

An innovative solution from BASF catalyst manufacturing technology (NanoSelect™) sold in collaboration with Strem Chemicals for research purposes, allows production of heterogeneous catalysts in water with excellent control over metal crystallite sizes, reducing the amount of palladium required and the need for lead or sulphur.

NanoSelect™ technology enabled the development of Pd catalysts which are lead-free Lindlar catalyst replacements in alkyne-to-cis-alkene hydrogenations. NanoSelect™ Pt catalysts showed excellent chemo-selectivity in substituted nitro-arene hydrogenation reactions without build-up of hydroxylamine intermediates. All NanoSelect™ produced catalysts show markedly higher activity per gram of metal leading to ten-fold less use of precious metal using less of the earth’s resources, making a for a greener type of chemistry

 NanoSelect LF 100 and LF 200 are selective hydrogenation catalysts that are environmentally friendly, lead-free alternatives to Lindlar catalysts which require the use of lead or sulphur in the hydrogenation of alkynes to alkenes. Although they contain just 0.5-0.6 wt% palladium on a support of either carbon or titanium silicate powder, in various hydrogenation reactions, these NanoSelect catalysts exhibit similar activity and selectivity to Lindlar catalysts that contain 5 wt% palladium. As a result, it is possible to achieve the same results using a 10-fold reduction of precious metal. Unlike typical reduction-deposition methods, NanoSelect catalysts are produced in water rather than organic solvents. The commercially available ammonium surfactant hexadecyl(2-hydroxyethyl) dimethylammonium dihydrogenphosphate (HHDMA) is used as the stabiliser and reductant in a process that is readily scalable. The colloidal nanoparticles are thought to be stabilised by a double layer of HHDMA.

Pd and Pt NanoSelect catalysts available from Strem Chemicals, are unique nanoparticle catalysts for the selective hydrogenation of acetylenes to cis-olefins and substituted nitroarenes to anilines, respectively, with low catalyst loadings.

These unimodal metal particles have crystallite sizes of approximately 7 nm when deposited onto various supports. Prepared via reduction-deposition in water, these catalysts exhibit very high activities and selectivity’s for hydrogenation reactions.

The reduction-deposition method in the reduction-deposition method, unlike in conventional reductive precipitation, nanoparticles of a metal are formed via reduction in solution in the presence of a stabiliser, and then the particles are deposited onto a heterogeneous support. The reduction of the metal prior to deposition on the support is the key feature of this method. Notably, this approach enables the formation of nanocatalysts with a narrow metal crystallise size distribution.

For further information on these exciting advances contact us on 01223  873 028 or enquiries@strem.co.uk



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