Introduction to Catalysis

Overview

Source: Laboratory of Dr. Ryan Richards — Colorado School of Mines

Catalysis is among the most important fields of modern technology and presently accounts for approximately 35% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and sustenance of approximately 33% of the global population through fertilizers produced via the Haber process.¹ Catalysts are systems that facilitate chemical reactions by lowering the activation energy and influencing the selectivity. Catalysis will be a central technology in addressing the energy and environmental challenges of modern times.

Procedure

1. Preparation of 4-Nitrophenol Solution Mixed with Sodium Borohydride

Weigh 14 mg of 4-nitrophenol and dissolve in 10 mL of DI water in a glass vial.
Weigh 57 mg of sodium borohydride and dissolve in 15 mL of DI water.
Mix the two solutions and magnetic stir for 30 min at room temperature to a uniform solution. Lab coat, safety goggle and gloves are needed as standard protocol protection.

2. Preparation of Catalyst Solution

Weigh 10

Results

The reduction of 4-nitrophenol with a catalyst is a benchmark reaction in the literature for evaluating catalyst performance and measuring kinetics. Prior to the addition of catalyst, the color of the solution is light yellow, which corresponds to the 4-nitrophenol ion in alkaline conditions. Without the addition of a catalyst, the yellow color does not fade away, this indicates that the mixture system of 4-nitrophenol and sodium borohydride is stable.

After the addition of palladium on active

Application and Summary

As a benchmark reaction, the catalytic application of nanoscale palladium particles can be extended to other fields. Similar to the reduction of 4-nitrophenol, which is a colorometric (the reaction is observed as a color change), the hydrogenation of chemical dyes can be accomplished with the same protocol. Chemical hydrogenation processes are very important in many industrial reactions as well as waste disposal. Researchers have found applications of catalysts in hydrogenation reactions in fields such as petrochemicals.

References

Armor, J. What is catalysis? North American Catalysis Society. (2008).
Thomas, J.M., Thomas, W.J. Principles and Practice of Heterogeneous Catalysis. Wiley-VCH. Germany (2015).
Heck, R.F., Nolley, J.P. Palladium-catalyzed v Vinylic Hydrogen Substitution Reactions with Aryl, Benzyl and Styryl Halides. J. Org. Chem. 37 (14), (1972).
Oberholzer, M., Frech, C. M. Mizoroki-Heck Cross-coupling Reactions Catalyzed by Dichloro{bis[1,1',1''-(phosphinetriyl)tripiperidine]}palladium Under Mild Reaction Conditions. J. Vis. Exp. (85), e51444, (2014).
Liu, J., Gao, A. X., Johnson, J. A. Particles without a Box: Brush-first Synthesis of Photodegradable PEG Star Polymers under Ambient Conditions. J. Vis. Exp. (80), e50874, (2013).
Fowler, M. L., Ingram-Smith, C. J., Smith, K. S. Direct Detection of the Acetate-forming Activity of the Enzyme Acetate Kinase. J. Vis. Exp. (58), e3474, (2011).