Spatial compartmentalisation effects for multifunctionality catalysis: From dual sites to cascade reactions

Abstract

Catalysis plays a key role in the production of fuels, industrial chemicals and the chemical transformation of fine chemicals. As society faces increasing environmental pollution and energy crises, tandem catalysis has attracted increasing attention as an outstanding model due to its sustainability and environmental friendliness. Compared with traditional stepwise synthesis methods, tandem catalysis not only can couple several different reactions together, but also does not require the separation of intermediates, which provides new ideas for improving reaction activity, regulating product selectivity and developing new methods for catalysis. In order to catalyse cascade reactions efficiently, it is crucial to design suitable multifunctional catalysts, which should contain at least two active sites and achieve spatial separation. Here, we introduce the realisation and application of spatial segregation of metal, acidic and basic sites with examples to provide further insight into the indispensable role of active site compartmentalisation effects in tandem catalysis. In addition, this study highlights the challenges and issues associated with such catalysts, emphasising the importance of effective catalyst enhancement and environmentally sustainable catalytic transformations. The results of the study are intended to provide guidance for the development of rational and efficient catalysts.

Functional Catalysts for Self-Supported Hydrodeoxygenation of Anisole in Water

“…A key to successful implementation of commercially and economically viable biomass conversion catalysis technologies is through the advancement of catalysts and catalytic processes, in particular through the development of efficient catalysts capable of achieving high activity, high product selectivity, and long-term stability under industry-related conditions . Catalyst deactivation and its mitigation are particularly important in biomass conversion and are considered to be one of the major challenges in designing improved biomass conversion technologies .…”

Enhanced Effect of Carbon for the Ni/T-Nb2O5 Catalyst on Vanillin Hydrodeoxygenation in the Aqueous Phase

“…In comparison with Fe-based and Co-based catalysts, Ni-based as-supported non-noble metal catalysts have been widely reported owing to the lower cost, higher hydrogenation activity toward aromatic groups, and higher selectivity toward deoxygenated products . In addition, the properties of supports play an essential role in the catalytic performance of the HDO process. , Niobium oxide has been widely used in hydrogenolysis, dehydration, and HDO reactions as a water-resistant support due to its high acid strength, large number of water-resistant Bro̷nsted, and Lewis acid sites. − Jing et al prepared a Pd/Nb 2 O 5 catalyst by one-pot process for biomass-derived carbonyl compounds to liquid alkane and exhibited efficient activity, which was attributed to the fact that the acid sites of NbO x species reduced the energy barrier of C–O bonds cleavage. Meanwhile, the serious carbon deposition and poor thermal stability result in a decrease in hydrogenation activity.…”