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Rational Control of the Selectivity of a Ruthenium Catalyst for Hydrogenation of 4‐Nitrostyrene by Strain Regulation
Author(s) -
Mao Junjie,
Chen Wenxing,
Sun Wenming,
Chen Zheng,
Pei Jiajing,
He Dongsheng,
Lv Chunlin,
Wang Dingsheng,
Li Yadong
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201706645
Subject(s) - selectivity , catalysis , ruthenium , high resolution transmission electron microscopy , metal , chemistry , materials science , photochemistry , inorganic chemistry , combinatorial chemistry , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , transmission electron microscopy , organic chemistry , engineering
Tuning the selectivity of metal catalysts is of paramount importance yet a great challenge. A new strategy to effectively control the selectivity of metal catalysts, by tuning the lattice strain, is reported. A certain amount of Co atoms is introduced into Ru catalysts to compress the Ru lattice, as confirmed by aberration‐corrected high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X‐ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements. We discover that the lattice strain of Ru catalysts can greatly affect their selectivity, and Ru with 3 % lattice compression exhibits extremely high catalytic selectivity for hydrogenation of 4‐nitrostyrene to 4‐aminostyrene compared to pristine Ru (99 % vs. 66 %). Theoretical studies confirm that the optimized lateral compressive strain facilitates hydrogenation of the nitro group but impedes the hydrogenation of the vinyl group. This study provides a new guideline for designing metal catalysts with high selectivity.