Method of making improved hydrogenation catalyst

Abstract

Abstract The present invention provides a method of making an improved catalyst useful for hydrogenation of organic compounds and in other reactions. The method comprises mixing a porous particulate refractory support material with a hydrophobic polymeric binder to form an essentially homogeneous mixture and then catalyzing this mixture by introducing into the pores of the mixture a salt of a metal of the eighth group of the Periodic Table in a non-polar solvent in which the salt is ionizable. Further in accordance with the method, the salt is reduced to the catalytic metal within the pores of the mixture, specifically within the pores of the support material, by contacting with a selected reducing agent, for example, hydrazine or sodium bis (2-methoxyethoxy) aluminum hydride, preferably in solution. A porous structure is formed from the mixture either before or after the catalysis. Preferably, the structure is sintered as a final step. The support material in the mixture is preferably activated carbon having an average particle diameter of about 0.01-0.3 microns and the structure preferably has pores of an average diameter of about 30-300 A°. Most preferably, the binder is polytetrafluoroethylene. During the mixing step, the mixture is sheared to a fine filament-like fibrous structure of a uniform spongy nature with no grossly detectable free carbon or polytetrafluoroethylene particles.

Inventors

• 👤 Aldo S. Berchielli
• 👤 Roland F. Chireau

Bibliographic Details