Aqueous phase selective CO hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde over bimetallic RuCo catalysts with electronic and geometric modification

Aqueous phase selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde (CALD), as a representative α,β-unsaturated aldehyde, into cinnamyl alcohol (CALA) has been investigated over monometallic Ru and bimetallic RuCo catalysts on pristine h-BN support. Using water as the solvent, the optimal 0.5%Ru-1.1%Co/h-BN catalyst exhibits 510 h −1 specific reaction rate and 78.9 % CALA selectivity as well as good recycling stability at 100 °C. Based on the structure characterizations of catalysts, metal nanoparticles consisting of metallic Ru 0 and partially oxidized Ru δ+ sites are uniformly dispersed on h-BN thin sheets. In comparison to monometallic catalysts, additive Co metals in bimetallic RuCo/h-BN catalysts play significant geometric and electronic modification roles on Ru active sites depending on the Ru/Co ratio, and therefore remarkably enhances the preferential activation of CALD C O bond and selectivity of CALA product as well as accelerates the catalytic reaction . Furthermore, the hydrogen dissociative activation ability of various Ru and RuCo catalysts was evaluated, while the superior catalytic performance in water than other commonly used solvents was also clarified and discussed.