Highly Loaded and Dispersed Cobalt Catalysts for the Hydrogenation of Toluene with Triethylamine

Highly dispersed and loaded (60 wt %) catalysts Co/MgAlO, Co/MgO, and Co/Al 2 O 3 were prepared for the hydrogenation of toluene without and with triethylamine (TEA). It was found that while Al 2 O 3 favored the dispersion of Co, MgO promoted the reduction of CoO x so that the Co/MgAlO exhibited the small Co particles (∼6.5 nm), high H 2 uptake (363 μmol/g), and thus was highly active for the hydrogenation reaction without TEA (not only higher than the Co/Al 2 O 3 and Co/MgO but also higher than the 60% Ni/MgAlO). In addition, the adsorption heat of TEA was significantly lower on the Co/MgAlO than on the Ni/MgAlO so that the reaction activity for the hydrogenation of toluene was significantly less affected by TEA on the Co/MgAlO than on the Ni/MgAlO. Thus, the Co/MgAlO can be expected to be better than the Ni/MgAlO for the synthesis of alicyclic amines from aromatic amines.