Reductive amination of ethanol with silica-supported cobalt and nickel catalysts Original Research Article

The amination of ethanol has been studied using silica-supported cobalt and nickel catalysts prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. Under identical operating conditions, the Co/SiO2 catalyst is considerably more active for ethanol conversion than the Ni/SiO2 catalyst, in spite of the lower measured metal surface area. The higher activity of the Co/SiO2 catalyst combined with its higher selectivity towards the industrially desired lower amines (MEA and DEA) make the metal a promising catalyst. Selectivity to individual ethylamine products (i.e. mono-, di- and triethylamine) is kinetically controlled and a function of the operating parameters as well as of the metal catalyst employed. Temperature programmed reduction (TPR), temperature programmed oxidation (TPO) and hydrogen chemisorption have been used to characterize the physico-chemical differences between the catalysts used in this study.