Preparation and Characterization of Polymer-Stabilized Ruthenium-Platinum and Ruthenium-Palladium Bimetallic Colloids and Their Catalytic Properties for Hydrogenation of o-Chloronitrobenzene.

Colloidal dispersions of poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP)-stabilized ruthenium-platinum and ruthenium-palladium bimetallic colloids were prepared by NaBH4 reduction of the corresponding mixed-metal salts at room temperature and characterized by TEM, XPS, and XRD. The resulting bimetallic colloids were used as catalysts for the selective hydrogenation of o-chloronitrobenzene (o-CNB) in methanol at 303 K under 0.1 MPa of hydrogen. It was observed that the catalytic performance of PVP-stabilized ruthenium-platinum colloids (PVP-Ru/Pt) and ruthenium-palladium colloids (PVP-Ru/Pd) was dependent on their compositions and could be remarkably affected by some added metal cations. In the presence of cobalt ion, nearly 100% selectivity to o-chloroaniline (o-CAN) was achieved over PVP-Ru/Pt colloids at 100% conversion of o-CNB, with an activity two orders of magnitude higher than that of monometallic PVP-Ru colloid. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.