Poisoning and Reuse of Supported Precious Metal Catalysts in the Hydrogenation of N-Heterocycles Part I: Ruthenium-Catalysed Hydrogenation of 1-Methylpyrrole

Poisoning phenomena of heterogeneous, supported precious metal catalysts caused by nitrogen were investigated in the liquid-phase hydrogenation of 1-methylpyrrole (MP) to 1-methylpyrrolidine (MPD) over ruthenium on carbon, in non-acidic medium (methanol), at 10 bar and 25–60 °C. Reusing a spent, unregenerated 5% Ru/C catalyst, it was found that the activity of catalyst and the conversion of model substrate were strongly dependent on the amount of catalyst and the number of recycling, respectively. During the first reuse of this ruthenium catalyst, surprisingly, it showed high activity already at room temperature contrary to the fresh catalyst which worked at only 60 °C. This unexpected catalytic behaviour was studied by XRD and XPS methods which revealed the existence of a fine RuO2 layer on the surface of the catalytic metal in the fresh catalyst.