Influence of noble metals on the performance of Co/SiO₂ catalyst for 1-hexene hydroformylation

Effect of small amount of Pt, Pd and Ru promoters on the characteristics and performance of Co/SiO₂ catalyst, which was prepared from the mixture of cobalt nitrate and cobalt acetate, was investigated in the hydroformylation of 1-hexene. It was found that the addition of small amount of a noble metal to the supported cobalt catalyst led into great improvement of catalyst activity for hydroformylation of 1-hexene. The 1-hexene conversion as high as 89.7% and oxygenate products selectivity of 88.9% were obtained after reaction of 2h over Pd promoted Co/SiO₂ catalyst. The increasing of reduction degree, the minimizing of cobalt particle size and the enhancement of carbonyl and linear CO adsorption were responsible for the improved performance of the catalyst.