A Pd–B/γ-Al2O3 amorphous alloy catalyst for hydrogenation of tricyclopentadiene to tetrahydrotricyclopentadiene

A Pd–B/γ-Al2O3 amorphous alloy catalyst was prepared by impregnation and chemical reduction with borohydrine aqueous solution. Crystallized Pd–B/γ-Al2O3 catalysts were obtained by thermal treatment of the prepared amorphous catalyst at elevated temperatures. For comparison, a conventional H2-reduced Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalyst was also prepared. The catalysts were characterized by ICP, XRD, SEM, TEM, DSC and TPD, and were used for the hydrogenation of tricyclopentadiene. All the catalysts demonstrated similar activities for partial hydrogenation of tricyclopentadiene to dihydrotricyclopentadiene. However, the amorphous alloy catalyst showed significantly higher activity for the further hydrogenation of dihydrotricyclopentadiene to the final product tetrahydrotricyclopentadiene.