Ce and Ca/Nb doped Pd-mesocellular foam catalysts for gas-phase conversion of acetone to methyl isobutyl ketone

Herein, we report a study on the design of new palladium containing catalysts based on Ce- and Ca–Nb-mesocellular foam (MCF) supports for gas-phase conversion of acetone to methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK). A comparison to other catalyst materials already described in the literature shows that the role of material structure (mesostructured cellular foams, hydroxyapatite or mesoporous aluminophosphate), acid-base character of the support, state of palladium species and the support metal dopants play important roles for the catalytic performance in the conversion of acetone to MIBK.

Thus, the new catalytic system Pd/Ce-MCF with 11% of conversion and 94% of selectivity to MIBK (250 °C) is demonstrated to be more attractive in term of stability for the reaction over time than previously described in literature for Pd/hydroxyapatite.