Selective hydrogenation of 2-methylnaphthalene by heterostructured Ni-NiO-based catalysts for 6-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene

As an important intermediate of organic chemical industry, 2-methylnaphthalene (2-MN) has the application value in the field of medicine and material research. Up to date, the existing researches are aimed at 2-methyl -naphthalene saturated hydrogenation and hydrocracking for high value products such as cycloalkanes and BTXs. A series of Ni-based (20 wt.%) catalysts were prepared with different reduction temperatures for the hydroge-nation of 2-methylnaphthalene to 6-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene (6-MT) in this study. The results showed that by using NiO/Al2O3-370R, 90.8% conversion of 2-MN and 59.7% yield of desired product (6-MT) can be achieved with optimum reaction conditions of 4 MPa & 340C, 8 h. Multiple studies including catalyst characterizations, reaction kinetics and density functional theory (DFT) calculation indicates that symbiotic effect of heterostructured Ni-NiO over gamma-Al2O3 mainly corresponding to the desired catalytic performance. This study gains fundamental understanding in the effects of valence of Ni-based catalysts in catalytic hydrogenation.