Development of highly selective Pt-Sn catalysts on mesoporous titania for hydrogenation of citral to unsaturated alcohols

Novel bimetallic catalysts on mesoporous titania containing Pt-Sn nanoparticles derived from a carbonyl complex for selective hydrogenation of citral were developed. The influence of nature of Pt Sn precursor, its concentration, solvent used, Pt Sn solution/TiO2 ratio, adsorption duration, type of catalyst activation treatment on the content, structural and electronic properties of supported metals were studied. Under optimal synthesis conditions high dispersion of Pt3 Sn particles (mean size 1.5 nm) and narrow size distribution (1-3 nm) were achieved. The correlation between synthesis conditions and physicochemical properties of Pt-Sn catalysts has been established. In citral hydrogenation, the bimetallic catalysts showed a TOF of 0.2-3.3 mm-’ and a high selectivity to unsaturated aldehydes (80-90%) even at high conversions