The product selectivity during 1,3-butadiene hydrogenation
on monodisperse,
colloidally synthesized, Pt nanoparticles was studied under reaction
conditions with kinetic measurements and in situ sum
frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy. SFG was performed
with the capping ligands intact in order to maintain nanoparticle
size by reduced sintering. Four products are formed at 75 °C:
1-butene, cis-2-butene, trans-2-butene,
and n-butane. Ensembles of Pt nanoparticles with
average diameters of 0.9 and 1.8 nm exhibit a ∼30% and ∼20%
increase in the full hydrogenation products, respectively, as compared
to Pt nanoparticles with average diameters of 4.6 and 6.7 nm. Methyl
and methylene vibrational stretches of reaction intermediates observed
under working conditions using SFG were used to correlate the stable
reaction intermediates with the product distribution. Kinetic and
SFG results correlate with previous DFT predictions for two parallel
reaction pathways of 1,3-butadiene hydrogenation. Hydrogenation of
1,3-butadiene can initiate with H-addition at internal or terminal
carbons leading to the formation of 1-buten-4-yl radical (metallocycle)
and 2-buten-1-yl radical intermediates, respectively. Small (0.9 and
1.8 nm) nanoparticles exhibited vibrational resonances originating
from both intermediates, while the large (4.6 and 6.7 nm) particles
exhibited vibrational resonances originating predominately from the
2-buten-1-yl radical. This suggests each reaction pathway competes
for partial and full hydrogenation and the nanoparticle size affects
the kinetic preference for the two pathways. The reaction pathway
through the metallocycle intermediate on the small nanoparticles is
likely due to the presence of low-coordinated sites.