Catalytic reaction of methanol with formaldehyde for preparation of methylal was investigated in various Brønsted acid ionic liquids with different carbon chain length of alkyl groups. The structures, acidities, and properties of ionic liquids were experimentally characterized and theoretically analyzed. The Brønsted acidity-viscosity-activity correlation for the ionic liquids was studied. Among all these ionic liquids, [C 6 ImBS][HSO 4 ] exhibited the best catalytic performance, which was ascribed to its strong Brønsted acidity and low viscosity. The catalytic activity of ionic liquid was near to that of concentrated sulfuric acid. The influences of ionic liquid dosage, reaction temperature and molar ratio of methanol to formaldehyde were explored using [C 6 ImBS]HSO 4 as the catalyst. Under the optimal conditions of n(methanol) : n(formaldehyde) : n(ILs)= 2.5: 1: 0.0258, 60 °C, and 4h, the conversion of formaldehyde can reach 63.37 %. The ionic liquid [C 6 ImBS]HSO 4 could be reused.

Gas-phase hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene was investigated over Pt/SiO2 catalysts with the aim of understanding the complete hydrogenation of dienes.

The reaction pathway for partial hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene over a Pt/SiO2 catalyst was explored with a combination of in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy, intrinsic kinetics, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Alloying Pt with other metals is an effective strategy to tune its performance towards selective hydrogenation reactions. Herein, we have demonstrated a process to screen Pt‐based alloys for inhibition of butadiene over‐hydrogenation with a model comprising isolated single atoms (ISA) embedded into Pt(111). DFT calculations reveal that the diffusion energy barrier of H co‐adsorbed with 1‐butene is a key parameter for the screening. The output from the ISA model was validated by testing several typical Pt‐based alloys towards butadiene hydrogenation. Furthermore, an unexpected higher selectivity to cis‐2‐butene compared to the trans isomer and 1‐butene over the PtZn alloy was explored employing the ISA model.