Sulfided NiMo/(Al)‐MCM‐41 Catalysts for Anisole Hydrodeoxygenation: Impact of Aluminium Incorporation in the Mesostructured Support

Abstract

NiMoS nanocatalysts supported on MCM‐41 modified with aluminium were studied in the anisole hydrodeoxygenation. Our interest was to study the effect of the Al incorporation to the support on the activity and selectivity. The results indicate that the catalytic behaviour strongly depended on the Al presence in the MCM‐41 support and its loading. The anisole conversions and the respective pseudo‐first‐order rate constants increased with Al‐incorporation compared to the NiMo/Si‐MCM‐41 sample. The highest catalytic activity was obtained with the NiMo/Al‐MCM‐41(60) nanocatalyst. Aluminum presence in the support also had a strong effect on the selectivity of the catalysts, promoting the formation of phenol as an intermediate product mainly through demethylation of the O‐CH3 group of anisole, as well as through demethylation of 2‐methylphenol intermediate. These results were ascribed to an increased acidity of the Al‐MCM‐41‐supported samples and the participation of these acidic sites in the interaction with anisole and oxygen‐containing reaction intermediates.