Olefin metathesis interconverts C=C bonds in hydrocarbons and can be tailored to produce an alkene of any desired length. Its versatility opens up a whole new series of reactions and results in numerous industrial applications that produce important petrochemicals, oleochemicals, polymers and specialty chemicals. Hetrogenerous alumina and alumina-silica supported rhenuim oxides (ReOx) are favorable at certain industrial settings due to their catalytic ability at near room temperature. Despite decades of catalysis research, the exact nature of catalytic active sites is not well understood becuase of the absence of detailed knowledge at molecular level and lack of modern characterization techniques in the past.Extensive in situ and operando Raman, XAS, UV vis and IR characterization, steady-state kinetic studies and denisty functional theory (DFT) calculations for this catalytic system were undertaken in this research to provide unprecedented experimental and theoretical insights about the catalytic active sites (their anchoring sites, coordination and oxidation states) to unravel the fundamental structure-reactivity relationships. The new knowledge enables the molecular design of better catalysts that can be prepared with lower amounts of expensive rhenium.

Nature of catalytic active sites during olefin metathesis by supported ReOx/Al2O3 catalysts

247th National Meeting (2014)

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