Efficient Selective Hydrogenation of 2-Butyne-1,4-Diol to 2-Butene-1,4-Diol by Silicon Carbide Supported Platinum Catalyst

Selective hydrogenation of 2-butyne-1,4-diol (BYD) to 2-butene-1,4-diol (BED) is important for chemistry industry. In this work, a low concentration (0.5 wt.%) of platinum (Pt) was deposited onto the silicon carbide (SiC) support by an incipient wetness impregnation approach, and the as-obtained catalyst exhibited an excellent selectivity (~96%) for BED with a high conversion of 96% for BYD. Multiple characterization techniques were applied to investigate the active species for this reaction. The X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) data and fits, together with the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images identified that the as-calcined 0.5Pt/SiC was consisted of platinum oxide clusters (PtxOy), which were further converted to the reduced Pt0 species during the hydrogenation process. Therefore, metallic Pt nanoparticles with 2-3 nm in size supported on silicon carbide are the active species for BED products via selective hydrogenation of BYD in this work.