Platinum-supported mesoporous silica of facile recovery as a catalyst for hydrogenation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons under ultra-mild conditions

Here we describe a new platinum catalyst comprised of Pt(0) nanoparticles immobilized on a modified magnetic mesoporous silica support modified with electron donor groups (–N). The material is constituted of controlled pore size (2.4–4.1 nm) and serves as a template for the generation of Pt nanoparticles (2–4 nm). The catalytic activity of the supported Pt nanoparticles was investigated in the catalytic reduction of anthracene under ultra-mild conditions. A complete morphological characterization of the hybrid organic–inorganic composite which confirms the formation of the hybrid material is also given. The catalyst was easily recycled using a small magnet, and it could be reused at least twice without significant loss of its catalytic activity. ICP–OES reveals that after the recyclability study no leaching of Pt or Si could be detected in the products (<0.01 ppm) which confirms the chemical stability of the material allowing it to be used as a potential hydrogenation catalyst for solid–liquid reactions with facile catalyst recovery.