The application of a supported palladium catalyst for the hydrogenation of aromatic nitriles

•Benzonitrile is hydrogenated to benzylamine which, via hydrogenolysis, forms toluene.•The hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis reactions occur independently.•A reaction scheme is proposed to account for the observations.

The use of a Pd/C catalyst in the liquid phase hydrogenation of various aromatic nitriles (benzonitrile, benzyl cyanide, 3-phenyl propionitrile and cinnamonitrile) has been studied in order to assess the effectiveness of this type of catalyst for this class of reaction. On modifying the nitrile substituent and upon introducing conjugation, varying degrees of conversion are observed. For benzyl cyanide and 3-phenylpropionitrile, incomplete mass balance profiles are linked to spill-over to the carbon support. In the case of benzonitrile hydrogenation, a hydrogenolytic step leads to a loss of selectivity to the primary amine to yield toluene with, ultimately, complete selectivity. Co-hydrogenation measurements on mixtures of benzonitrile and benzylamine indicate the presence of site-selective chemistry. Co-hydrogenation studies on mixtures of benzonitrile and benzyl cyanide highlight the competitive nature of the reaction system and, indirectly, establish a contribution from adsorbed imine species.

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