Preparation, characterisation and catalytic hydrogenation properties of palladium supported on C60

Abstract

A C60-supported Pd catalyst has been prepared by reaction between C60 and Pd(OAc)2(PPh3)2 in toluene, to give the complex C60[Pd(OAc)2(PPh3)]3, followed by H2 treatment at 523 K for 4 h. Catalytic quantities (1 mol%) promote hydrogenation of diphenylacetylene, phenylacetylene, cyclohexene and hex-1-ene to give 100% conversion to 1,2-diphenylethane, phenylethane, cyclohexane and hexane within 18, 13, 21 and 12 min, respectively. Hydrogenation of the same substrates under similar conditions using Pd on activated charcoal (10%) as catalyst gives similar yields but at a longer time (20, 18, 27 and 15 min, respectively). Both the Pd-C60 catalyst and its precursor were characterised by thermogravimetry (TG), FTIR, mass spectrometry (MS), powder XRD, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).