Hydrogenation of 1-nitroanthraquinone to 1-aminoanthraquinone with gaseous H2 catalyzed by copper nanoparticles and reaction kinetics

Polycrystalline metallic copper nanoparticle samples with the average particle sizes ranging from 53 to 80 nm were controllably prepared by the wet chemical reduction of copper hydroxide with hydrazine hydrate at 50 °C for 1–4 h. The small-sized copper nanoparticles exhibited a higher catalytic activity than the large-sized ones in the hydrogenation of 1-nitroanthraquinone with gaseous hydrogen to 1-aminoanthraquinone at the reaction temperatures of 180–220 °C. When the hydrogenation reaction was conducted at 200 °C and H2 pressures of 0.3–0.7 MPa, the copper nanoparticles with the average particle size of 53 nm exhibited the selectivity of 1-aminoanthraquinone of above 88% at the conversion of 1-nitroanthraquinone of above 95%. A power type reaction kinetics equation well fit the experimental data and the simulated activation energy is 51 kJ mol−1. Graphical abstract