Gas-phase hydrogenation of butyronitrile over supported platinum catalysts.

The gas-phase hydrogenation of butyronitrile over supported Pt catalysts was studied in a differential flow reactor at atmospheric pressure and at 473 K. To investigate the influence of metal-support interactions, three supports (γ-Al2O3, SiO2, and MgO) were employed. The reaction experiments using supported and unsupported Pt catalysts showed a dramatic influence of the pretreatment on catalytic behavior. For the supported Pt catalysts, the activity for butyronitrile conversion was at least an order of magnitude higher for uncalcined samples than that for calcined samples. In addition, the uncalcined samples formed an increased fraction of higher amines as the hydrogenation products. The hydrogenation vs cracking selectivity of supported catalysts was greatly influenced by the nature of support.