Synthesis of Ru nanoparticles with hydroxyethyl cellulose as stabilizer for high-efficiency reduction of α-pinene

Abstract Ruthenium (Ru) nanoparticles synthesized using hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC-Ru) were used to hydrogenate α-pinene in an aqueous medium. The results showed that HEC had a good dispersion effect on Ru nanoparticles and most of the particle sizes were ranged from 4 to 6 nm. The micelles formed with HEC appeared to act as “microreactors” in which the Ru nanoparticles had good stability and uniform distribution. In addition, α-pinene was loaded into the HEC micelles through hydrophobic interaction, resulting in good contact with Ru nanoparticles. Thereby, HEC-Ru nanoparticles significantly improved the hydrogenation of α-pinene, and 99.6% of α-pinene conversion and 98.6% of cis-pinane selectivity were obtained. Compared with the Pd/C, Ru/H 2 O, and HEC-Ru/ethanol catalyst systems, the HEC-Ru/H 2 O system had the maximum α-pinene conversion. In addition, considerable α-pinene conversion could be obtained after 10 times reuse with no fresh addition. Graphic abstract