Researchers develop new catalyst containing liquid metal to promote alkane dehydrogenation

Dehydrogenation reactions are one of the most important ones in organic chemistry, since unreactive molecules, the alkanes, are converted into highly reactive compounds of great value in the chemical industry, the alkenes. In order to accomplish that, several types of catalysts have been developed in the last few years to promote this reaction.

Researchers from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, in Germany, have developed a catalyst comprised by palladium dispersed in liquid gallium adsorbed on a porous glass support which was highly efficient for this type or reaction. Besides presenting high activity, the catalyst is more resistant to coke formation than the conventional ones.

The developed protocol still presents some operational issues, but consists on a great advance in the field of catalysis, having the potential to furnish more efficiently highly valuable products in industry.

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https://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nchem.2822.html