Kinetics of 2-Chloro-6-Nitrotoluene Hydrogenation on Palladium/Carbon Catalyst without Inhibitors

Pd-only catalyst supported on activated carbon has been prepared by chemical impregnation and used to catalyze the hydrogenation of 2-chloro-6-nitrotoluene (2-CNT) to 3-chloro-2-methylaniline in solvent-free condition. The effects of reaction temperature，H2 pressure on the hydrogenation have been investigated. The reaction showed very high selectivity with the dehalogenation side product with a yield of less than 1.2 %. The most favorable conditions could be temperature= 353 K, stirring speed= 1200 rpm, H2 pressure= 1 MPa. The catalytic hydrogenation reaction was found to have a zero order with hydrogen and 1 order with 2-CNT. The apparent activation energy of the hydrogenation was 60.58 kJ/mol.