Multiphase hydrogenation is critical in organic synthesis, but generally suffers from such challenges as mass transfer limitations, harsh reaction conditions and long reaction times. Noble metal colloidal nanoparticles (1-10 nm) have been shown to be efficient catalysts for hydrogenation due to their large surface-to-volume ratios, and can be used to eliminate or significantly reduce some of these challenges. Facile hydrogenation of carbon-carbon double bonds was achieved in a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microfluidic reactor with immobilized noble nanoparticles, using the conversion of 6-bromo-1-hexene to 6-bromo-1-hexane as a model reaction. The microreactor served as a platform to measure the intrinsic catalytic activity and turnover frequencies of palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt) and ruthenium (Ru) nanocatalysts. The turnover frequency (TOF, h-1) of the nanocatalysts in the microfluidic reactor were hundreds of times larger than those measured in comparable experiments in Parr batch reactors.

Facile hydrogenation of carbon-carbon double bonds using catalytic noble nanoparticles immobilized in microfluidic reactors

244th National Meeting (2012)

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