Highly dispersed ruthenium hydroxide supported on titanium oxide effective for liquid-phase hydrogen-transfer reactions.

Supported ruthenium hydroxide catalysts (Ru(OH)(x)/support) were prepared with three different TiO(2) supports (anatase TiO(2) (TiO(2)(A), BET surface area: 316 m(2) g(-1)), anatase TiO(2) (TiO(2)(B), 73 m(2) g(-1)), and rutile TiO(2) (TiO(2)(C), 3.2 m(2) g(-1))), as well as an Al(2)O(3) support (160 m(2) g(-1)). Characterizations with X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron spin resonance (ESR), and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) showed the presence of monomeric ruthenium(III) hydroxide and polymeric ruthenium(III) hydroxide species. Judging from the coordination numbers of the nearest-neighbor Ru atoms and the intensities of the ESR signals, the amount of monomeric hydroxide species increased in the order of Ru(OH)(x)<Ru(OH)(x)/TiO(2)(C)<Ru(OH)(x)/Al(2)O(3)<Ru(OH)(x)/TiO(2)(B)<Ru(OH)(x)/TiO(2)(A). These supported ruthenium hydroxide catalysts, especially Ru(OH)(x)/TiO(2)(A), showed high catalytic activities and selectivities for liquid-phase hydrogen-transfer reactions, such as racemization of chiral secondary alcohols and the reduction of carbonyl compounds and allylic alcohols. The catalytic activities of Ru(OH)(x)/TiO(2)(A) for these hydrogen-transfer reactions were at least one order of magnitude higher than those of previously reported heterogeneous catalysts, such as Ru(OH)(x)/Al(2)O(3). These catalyses were truly heterogeneous, and the catalysts recovered after the reactions could be reused several times without loss of catalytic performance. The reaction rates monotonically increased with an increase in the amount of monomeric ruthenium hydroxide species, which suggests that the monomeric species are effective for these hydrogen-transfer reactions.