Tetrahedral Nickel(II) Phosphosilicate Single-Site Selective Propane Dehydrogenation Catalyst

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/cctc.201701815

Silica-supported Ni catalysts usually show poor stability, low selectivity, and short lifetime in high-temperature alkane dehydrogenation reactions owing to the reduction to Ni⁰ nanoparticles under the reaction conditions. The introduction of a phosphate ligand to silica-supported Ni^II provided single-site tetrahedral Ni^II phosphosilicate as a stable and selective propane dehydrogenation catalyst. The Ni^II?OSi bonds activate the C?H bonds of propane and make the Ni^II sites catalytically active, whereas the Ni?OP bonds prevent the reduction of Ni^II to Ni⁰ under the dehydrogenation conditions and help to achieve high stability and selectivity.