Ru Nanoclusters Supported on Ti3C2Tx Nanosheets for Catalytic Hydrogenation of Quinolines

Ru-based catalysts hold great promise for selective hydrogenation of quinolines. However, the slow desorption of active H and strong adsorption of hydrogenated substrates on the Ru active sites seriously hinder their industrial applications. Herein, we design Ti3C2Tx-supported Ru nanocluster catalysts by loading Ru nanoclusters on two-dimensional (2D) Ti3C2Tx nanosheets. The Ti3C2Tx nanosheets with unique 2D structure and rich surface-terminated functional groups afford the formed Ru nanoclusters (RuNCs) with small size and high dispersity. The as-prepared RuNCs/Ti3C2Tx catalysts exhibit excellent catalytic activity and selectivity for the hydrogenation of quinolines. The theoretical calculation confirms that there exists charge transfer between Ru and the functional groups (e.g., F and O) on Ti3C2Tx, which can weaken the H adsorption and promote the desorption of hydrogenated products, contributing to the outstanding hydrogenation performance of RuNCs/Ti3C2Tx catalysts. The findings pave an avenue towards improving the hydrogenation performance of quinolines over Ru-based catalysts.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the design of Ti3C2Tx-supported Ru nanocluster catalysts, which improve the catalytic activity and selectivity of Ru catalysts in the hydrogenation of quinolines. The findings suggest that charge transfer between the functional groups on Ti3C2Tx and Ru weakens the adsorption of hydrogen and promotes the desorption of hydrogenated products.