Remote Activation Catalysis: Interparticle Hydrogen Spillover‐Assisted Cumene Synthesis from Propane and Benzene
Kenta Suzuki, Shingo Hasegawa, Ryota Osuga, Kiyotaka Nakajima, Ken Motokura
Abstract
Abstract Hydrogen spillover, particularly when involving “interparticle” hydrogen spillover, offers a unique opportunity to enhance catalytic efficiency by remote activation of surface acidity. Building on this concept, this study aims to investigate physically mixed alumina‐supported platinum nanoparticles (Pt/Al 2 O 3 ) and zirconia‐supported tungsten oxide (WO 3 /ZrO 2 ) in promoting the direct synthesis of cumene from benzene and propane at 300 °C. The reaction with Pt/Al 2 O 3 alone afforded propylene as the only product, indicating the successive reaction route of Pt‐catalyzed dehydrogenation of propane, followed by acid‐catalyzed alkylation. WO 3 /ZrO 2 with 18 wt.% WO 3 loading resulted in high benzene conversion (≈5.0%) and cumene selectivity (≈87.5%), which possesses poly tungstate species on the surface that is active for the acid‐catalyzed alkylation. UV–vis‐near infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and in situ Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy analyses revealed that atomic hydrogen abstracted from propane spills over from Pt/Al 2 O 3 particles to WO 3 /ZrO 2 particles to form Brønsted acid sites on the poly tungstate species, whose activity for alkylation between benzene and propylene is double that of the parent WO 3 /ZrO 2 .