Amination of isopropanol to isopropylamine over a highly basic and active Ni/LaAlSiO catalyst

Abstract Ni/AlSiO, Ni/LaO and Ni/LaAlSiO catalysts were studied for the amination of isopropanol (IPO) to isopropylamine (IPA). It was confirmed that the dehydrogenation of IPO to adsorbed acetone was the rate-limiting step for the amination of IPO. The Ni/LaAlSiO exhibited high activity for the dehydrogenation of IPO to acetone due to its high density of active Ni sites and strong surface basicity, and thus the high activity for the amination of IPO. In addition, the strong surface basicity of Ni/LaAlSiO promoted the desorption of IPA and inhibited the condensation reaction of IPA with adsorbed acetone, leading to the increased selectivity to IPA. In particular, the microcalorimetric co-adsorption results showed that IPA might be the most abundant surface species in the reaction, and the surface basicity promoted the desorption of IPA and thus the adsorption of reactants, leading to increased activity for the amination of IPO.