ChemInform Abstract: Heterogeneous Basic Catalysis

Heterogeneous acid catalysis attracted much attention primarily because heterogeneous acidic catalysts act as catalysts in petroleum refinery and are known as a main catalyst in the cracking process which is the largest process among the industrial chemical processes. In contrast to these extensive studies of heterogeneous acidic catalysts, fewer efforts have been given to the study of heterogeneous basic catalysts. The types of heterogeneous basic catalysts are listed in Table 1. Except for non-oxide catalysts, the basic sites are believed to be surface O atoms. The studies of heterogeneous catalysis have been continuous and progressed steadily. They have never been reviewed in the chemical Reviews before. It is more useful and informative to describe the studies of heterogeneous basic catalysis performed for a long period. In the present article, therefore, the cited papers are not restricted to those published recently, but include those published for the last 25 years. The paper first describes the generation of basic sites before describing methods used in the characterization of basic surfaces. These are indicator methods, temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of CO{sub 2}, UV absorption and luminescence spectroscopies, TPD of H{sub 2}, XPS, IR of CO{sub 2}, IR of pyrrole, and oxygen exchange betweenmore » CO{sub 2} and the surface. The paper then discusses studies on the catalysis by heterogeneous basic catalysts. Some of these reactions are dehydration, dehydrogenation, hydrogenation, amination, alkylation, ring transformation, and reactions of organosilanes. Catalysts discussed are single component metal oxides, zeolites, non-oxide types, and superbasic catalysts. 141 refs.« less