Rhodium-Cobalt Bimetallic Nanoparticles: A Catalyst for Selective Hydrogenation of Unsaturated Carbon-Carbon Bonds with Hydrous Hydrazine

Our studies on the effect of metal compositions on the catalytic activity of the rhodium-based bimetallic nanocatalysts revealed that the nanoparticles with a 4:1 ratio of rhodium to cobalt, were more active than the rhodium monometallic nanoparticles in the selective hydrogenation of unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds with hydrous hydrazine as a hydrogen source. The nanocatalysts effected this hydrogenation process in good-to-excellent yields with high functional group tolerance, and could be reused 10 times without the loss of catalytic activity. The catalyst characterization by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and line-scanning analysis suggested that the coexistence of metallic rhodium and cobalt plays an important role in the enhancement of catalytic activity.