Selective cleavage of CO bond in benzyl phenyl ether to aromatics over Pd–Fe bimetallic catalyst supported on ordered mesoporous carbon

• Bimetallic Pd–Fe/OMC and its corresponding monometallic catalysts were prepared.
• Interaction between Pd and Fe led to modification of electronic properties.
• Catalytic cleavage of CO bond in benzyl phenyl ether to aromatics was conducted.
• Bimetallic Pd–Fe/OMC catalyst showed the highest yield for aromatics.

Bimetallic Pd–Fe catalyst supported on ordered mesoporous carbon (Pd–Fe/OMC) was prepared by a surfactant-templating method and a subsequent incipient wetness impregnation method. The catalyst was applied to the catalytic cleavage of CO bond in benzyl phenyl ether to aromatics. For comparison, monometallic Pd/OMC and Fe/OMC catalysts were also investigated. Benzyl phenyl ether was used as a lignin model compound for representing α-O-4 linkage in lignin. The combined effect of palladium and iron on the physicochemical properties and catalytic activities of Pd–Fe/OMC was investigated. Although Pd/OMC catalyst showed the highest conversion of benzyl phenyl ether, selectivity for aromatics was low due to saturation of aromatic ring. On the other hand, Fe/OMC catalyst showed lower conversion of benzyl phenyl ether than Pd/OMC, but Fe/OMC catalyst showed higher CO bond cleavage selectivity than Pd/OMC catalyst without saturation of aromatics. Bimetallic Pd–Fe/OMC catalyst showed the highest yield for aromatics. The introduction of Fe into Pd/OMC catalyst resulted in the modification of electronic properties of Pd by electron transfer from Fe to Pd, which led to the enhanced yield for aromatics.

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