For cost and environmental reasons, water is considered a desirable solvent for many catalytic reactions, particularly those involving upgrading of biomass derivatives. In some cases, such as in the production of fuels from carbohydrates, water/oil emulsions may be formed in such systems. In this presentation, we will focus on the use of hydrophobic surface functionalization as a method of controlling catalyst stability, activity, or selectivity for reactions conducted in water or in water-oil emulsions, largely using metal-oxide supported Pt group metals as the catalyst substrate. Hydrophobic surface functionalization can protect metal oxide surfaces from water-induced deactivation, improving catalyst lifetime. Hydrophobic groups can also change the spatial location of catalyst particles at water-oil interfaces, and even change the dominant catalytic mechanism based on exclusion of water. Examples of the possible utility, as well as disadvantages, of the use of hydrophobic surface functionalization in such systems will be described via several examples of their applications.

Effects of hydrophobic surface functionalization on liquid-phase hydrogenation reactions

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