Applied Catalysis A: General, Vol.473, 116-124, 2014
Rhodium exchanged ETS-10 and ETS-4: Efficient heterogeneous catalyst for hydroaminomethylation
Rhodium exchanged titanosilicates (ETS-10 and ETS-4) were synthesized and found to be efficient and stable catalysts for hydroaminomethylation reaction. The catalyst was highly active and selective towards amine product within lower reaction time of 4 h. 1-Hexene and pyrrolidine were taken as representative substrates for parametric variations using Rh-ETS-10. The increase in pyrrolidine ratio gave some significant information showing a decrease in conversion with increased selectivity. The reason may be the competition between pyrrolidine and 1-hexene for coordination sites in rhodium and which prevents the beta-hydride elimination. The ratios of H-2 and CO have influenced hydroaminomethylation and the best performance was in the CO: H-2 ratio of 1:4 under the studied conditions. The initial rate of formation of amine was double than that of isomerization of 1-hexene. The Rh cluster like complex was formed on treating the catalyst with syn gas. A homogenous-heterogeneous dual nature of Rh was found during hydroaminomethylation. The catalyst was effectively recycled for three times without much loss in its activity and selectivity. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.