Hydrogenation catalyst, its method of preparation and use
A method of producing a hydrogenation catalyst, for example, a phthalate hydrogenation catalyst, comprising contacting a silica support having a medium pore size of at least about 10 nm with an acid to produce a treated silica support, and depositing a noble metal, preferably ruthenium, on the treated silica support to produce a noble metal-containing silica support, and optionally contacting the noble metal-containing silica support with a chelating agent to form the hydrogenation catalyst; a hydrogenation catalyst prepared by that method; and a method of hydrogenating unsaturated hydrocarbons, such as, phthalates, in which an unsaturated hydrocarbon is contacted with hydrogen gas in the presence of the hydrogenation catalyst of the invention.
1. A silica-supported noble metal hydrogenation catalyst comprising a porous silica support that has been acid treated to increase the hydroxyl concentration on said support after acid treatment, a noble metal and a chelating agent dispersed on said porous silica support,
wherein the chelating agent has at least one carboxylic acid functional group or hydroxyl functional group and from 2 to 20 carbon atoms; and
wherein said hydrogenation catalyst has a median pore size of at least about 10 nm and no more than about 300 nm, a silica content of at least 60 wt %, and a hydrogen to noble metal chemisorption ratio of at least about 0.50.
2. The catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the noble metal is selected from the group consisting of ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, platinum and mixtures thereof.
3. The catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the noble metal is ruthenium.
4. The catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst has a crush strength of at least 800 g/mm.
5. The catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the chelating agent is triethanolamine.
6. A process for use of the silica-supported noble metal hydrogenation catalyst of claim 1 , the process comprising the step of contacting a phthalate with hydrogen gas in the presence of the silica-supported noble metal hydrogenation catalyst of claim 1 .