Structural Regulation of PtCo/Y Zeolite Catalysts for the Selective Hydrogenation of 3-Nitrostyrene to 3-Vinylaniline

Selective hydrogenation of substituted nitroaromatic compounds to produce functionalized anilines is both pivotal and challenging. Supported bimetallic catalysts usually exhibit enhanced selectivity in this reaction because of the distinctive synergetic effect of two metals, such as the effect of electron state regulation. Herein, a series of Y-zeolite-supported PtCo nanoparticle (NP) bimetallic catalysts with varied Pt contents were designed and synthesized at different temperatures, and Y-zeolite-supported PtFe/PtNi NP bimetallic catalysts were prepared. The catalytic performances were investigated in the chemoselective hydrogenation of 3-nitrostyrene (3-NS). When combined with various characterization techniques, the PtCo/Y (3.0 wt % Pt, 300 °C) catalyst showed optimal performances with 74.43% 3-vinylaniline (3-VA) selectivity at 99.75% 3-NS conversion. The results can be attributed to the introduction of Co, which regulates the electronic state and structure of Pt, thus significantly improving the selectivity to 3-VA. This work exposes a creative opportunity for designing and synthesizing more efficient supported metal catalysts at the nanoscale.