Silver selectively catalyzes the hydrogenation of propyne to propene, and the activity is maximal over 4.5 nm nanoparticles. The rate of propene production correlates well with the density of B5 sites, which suggests that the latter are potential active centers in the reaction. The hydrogenation follows an associative scheme, featuring the activation of H2 directly on the propyne silver-surface intermediates.
From: Gianvito Vilé, Dr. David Baudouin,
Prof. Ioannis N. Remediakis, Prof. Christophe Copéret,
Prof. Núria López and Prof. Javier Pérez-Ramírez
“Silver Nanoparticles for Olefin Production: New Insights into the Mechanistic Description of Propyne Hydrogenation”
ChemCatChem
5, 3750-3759 (2013).
Second most downloaded paper from ChemCatChem in October 2013.