Hydrodenitrogenation of carbazole over a series of bulk NixMoP catalysts

The hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) of carbazole over bulk NixMoP (0 ≤ x ≤ 1.1) catalysts is reported at 583 K and 3.0 MPa H2. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the presence of NiMoP and MoP in the NixMoP catalysts. The NixMoP had higher CO uptake, higher acidity and lower TOFs for the HDN of carbazole than MoP. However, the selectivity to bicylohexane (BCHX) was greater on the NixMoP catalysts compared to MoP, and the Ni0.07MoP had the highest BCHX selectivity and highest TOF among the NixMoP catalysts. The improved selectivity is attributed to the enhanced CO uptake and acidity that resulted in increased hydrogenation of carbazole to terahydrocarbazole which in turn readily undergoes CN bond cleavage on acid sites to produce BCHX.