Saturated hydrogenation of aromatic amines is a crucial
methodology
for synthesizing alicyclic amines. The dispersion of Ru atoms occurred
after chemical reduction treatment, which was constrained to B and
N coordination, further promoting the Ru species’ uniform distribution
through interaction with the B–N bond of boron nitride. Moreover,
the Ru coordinated with h-BN and further formed the stable catalytic
active center. By virtue of its excellent stability, the hydrogenation
of MDA executed in the fixed-bed reactor could run for more than 200
h. However, the density functional theory showed that the hydrogenation
rate of the second benzene ring was comparatively slower because of
the strong intermediate adsorption during the conversion from 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane
to 4,4′-diaminodicyclohexylmethane. Furthermore, Ru/h-BN exhibited
excellent performance in the hydrogenation of other aromatic amines,
resulting in corresponding alicyclic amines. Therefore, this research
offers a stable and effective catalyst for the green hydrogenation
of aromatic amines leading to the production of alicyclic amines.