Hydrogenation of 3-nitro-4-methoxy-acetylaniline with H2 to 3-amino-4-methoxy-acetylaniline catalyzed by bimetallic copper/nickel nanoparticles

Monometallic Cu, monometallic Ni, and bimetallic CuxNiy nanoparticles were prepared by a wet chemical reduction method. A Cu-Ni alloy phase was formed in the bimetallic CuxNiy nanoparticles. The bimetallic CuxNiy nanoparticles exhibited higher catalytic activity for the hydrogenation of 3-nitro-4-methoxy-acetylaniline (NMA) to 3-amino-4-methoxy-acetylaniline (AMA) with H-2 than the sole Ni nanoparticles, which was ascribed to the effect of the Cu-Ni alloy phase. When the reaction was catalyzed over the bimetallic Cu0.7Ni0.3 catalyst at 140 degrees C for 2 h, the AMA selectivity was 99.4% when the NMA conversion was 95.7%. The reaction activation energy for NMA hydrogenation was 19.74 kJ mol(-1).