Journal of Chemistry
Volume 2015, Article ID 561350, 7 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/561350
Ru-Sn-B/Al2O3 Catalysts for Selective Hydrogenation of Methyl Oleate: Influence of the Ru/Sn Ratio
Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica (INCAPE) (FIQ-UNL, CONICET), Colectora Ruta Nacional, No. 168, Km. 0, Paraje El Pozo, 3000 Santa Fe, Argentina
Received 9 September 2015; Accepted 11 November 2015
Academic Editor: Antonio M. Romerosa-Nievas
Copyright © 2015 María A. Sánchez et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
This study focuses on the influence of the Ru/Sn ratio on the catalytic hydrogenation of methyl oleate to oleyl alcohol using Ru-Sn-B catalysts, notably on the catalytic activity and selectivity. Sn addition acts positively over the oleyl selectivity by reducing the rates of C=O and C=C saturation but also decreases the global activity. The catalyst with the highest activity and selectivity towards oleyl alcohol is Ru(1%)-Sn(2%)-B/Al2O3. At a low Sn loading (0.5%) the catalyst has high activity for hydrogenation of the carbonyl group and the carbon-carbon double bond. As a consequence stearyl alcohol is produced with high yield. At a high Sn content (4%) the catalyst has lower selectivity to oleyl alcohol due to its low capacity for hydrogenating the carbonyl group. However it has enough activity for hydrogenating the C=C double bonds to produce the saturated methyl ester.