Improving Raney® Catalysts Through Surface Chemistry

Abstract

The unique value of the Raney Ò catalyst is revealed through surface modifications that have extended this familiar platform into novel materials with enhanced productivity in practical hydrogenations. The illustrative examples each yielded new compositions through use of non-nickel metals: as efficient dopants (Pd, Pt), as an inexpensive alloy diluent (Fe) and substrate for plating, or as the primary catalyst metal (Raney Ò Cu) in a recently identified process upgrading a renewable feedstock. A perspective on the surface chemistry of metals links the various approaches.

Searching for the Hidden Hydrides: The Competition between Alkene Isomerization and Metathesis with Grubbs Catalysts

“…There was no evidence for the presence of 2 in these mixtures. These results constitute the very first observations of 3 in a metathesis‐active system, rather than one that has been “stressed”,14 or converted into hydride through Fischer carbene thermolysis,15 or by alcoholysis 16. Importantly, the accumulation of 3 proves that it has not entered the reaction as an impurity in 1 .…”

Bimetallic nanoalloys in heterogeneous catalysis of industrially important reactions: synergistic effects and structural organization of active components

“…Ð have sufficiently long lifetimes in some particularly valuable organic syntheses; and Ð undergo full reduction if necessary. Schmidt 90 attempted to enhance the catalytic activity of Raney nickel in order to make it a cheaper and competitive alternative to the supported catalysts Pd/C or Pt/C through an increase in the lifetime and the ability to function in a wide range of operating conditions, especially at low pressures. Very small amounts of precious metal (PM) were deposited on the Raney catalyst surface (from this point on, PM/Ni) by impregnation from solution.…”

Life cycle assessment of gas atomised sponge nickel for use in alkaline hydrogen fuel cell applications

“…Depending on the cost and required functionality sponge-type catalysts can also be made from other metals like platinum and palladium or copper and cobalt also using the Raney process [30,31]. In terms of functionality catalyst activity, selectivity, lifetime and surface area for the required reaction are the main considerations.…”