Hydrogenation of Cinnamaldehyde to Cinnamyl Alcohol over An Ultrafine Co-B Amorphous Catalyst

A novel Co-B amorphous alloy catalyst in the form of ultrafine particles was prepared by chemical reduction of CoCl2 with aqueous NaBH4, which exhibited excellent activity and selectivity during the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde to cinnamyl alcohol in liquid phase. The optimum yield of cinnamyl alcohol was 87.6%, much better than the yield of using Raney Ni, Raney Co and other Co-based catalysts.

A Novel Ultrafine Ru-B Amorphous Alloy Catalyst for Glucose Hydrogenation to Sorbitol

An ultrafine Ru-B amorphous alloy catalyst was prepared by chemical reduction with KBH4 in aqueous solution, which exhibited perfect selectivity to sorbitol (~100%) and very high activity during the liquid phase glucose hydrogenation, much higher than the corresponding crystallized Ru-B, the pure Ru powder, and Raney Ni catalysts. The correlation of the catalytic activity to both the structural and surface electronic characteristics was discussed briefly.

Cu^(2+)-Catalyzed Oscillatory Oxidation of Ascorbic Acid by O_2 Flow

A novel heterogeneous oscillator, the Cu2+-catalyzed oscillatory oxidation of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in aqueous solution by O-2 flow was reported. Both the potential oscillations on Pt-electrode corresponding to [Cu2+] and the absorbance oscillations at lambda =260 nm corresponding to [ascorbic acid] were observed. Oscillations in the completely homogeneous system were also observed. Effects of several factors on the oscillations were investigated.

Thermally stable Ir/Ce0.9La0.1O2 catalyst for high temperature methane dry reforming reaction

In this study, the use of a thermally stable Ir/Ce0.9La0.1O2 catalyst was investigated for the dry reforming of methane. The doping of La203 into the CeO2 lattice enhanced the chemical and physical properties of the Ir/Ce0.9La0.1O2 catalyst, such as redox properties, Ir dispersion, oxygen storage capacity, and thermal stability, with respect to the Ir/CeO2 catalyst. Hence, the Ir/Ce0.9La0.1O2 catalyst exhibits higher activity and stabler performance for the dry reforming of methane than the Ir/CeO2 catalyst. This observation can be mainly attributed to the stronger interaction between the metal and support in the Ir/Ce0.9La0.1O2 catalyst stabilizing the catalyst structure and improving the oxygen storage capacity, leading to negligible aggregation of Ir nanoparticles and the Ce0.9La0.1O2 support at high temperatures, as well as the rapid removal of carbon deposits at the boundaries between the Ir metal and the Ce0.9La0.1O2 support.

Microwave-assisted synthesis of α-hydroxy aromatic ketones from α-bromo aromatic ketones in water

A reaction of α-bromo aromatic ketones in water with microwave irradiation gave the corresponding α-hydroxy aromatic ketones in good yields. The use of microwaves was found to significantly improve yields and shorten the reaction time. This reaction afforded a very clean, convenient method for the synthesis of α-hydroxy aromatic ketones.