Bimetallic catalysts for hydrogenation in liquid phase

Activity and selectivity of bimetallic catalysts for two model reactions, citral hydrogenation in isopropanol and nitrate reduction in water, are reviewed on the basis of results obtained over bimetallic systems prepared in our laboratory, notably by redox techniques. The parent metal is generally a noble metal (Rh, Pd, Pt), while the additive is most often a non-noble metal (Ge, Sn, Cu…) whose oxidation state plays an important role in hydrogenation. Dramatic improvements of the selectivity to unsaturated alcohols are observed in citral hydrogenation with adequate deposition of the additive and pretreatment of the final catalyst. In nitrate reduction, the second metal essentially affects the first step of the process (conversion of nitrate to nitrite) but the global selectivity (limitation of NH 3 formation) may be significantly improved by tuning the couple parent metal–additive. Other aspects such as the choice of the support and the optimization of reaction conditions (temperature, pressure, pH effects in water) are also discussed.