Ethanol amination catalysis over early transition metal nitrides Original Research Article

Several high surface area early transition metal nitrides were evaluated for their ability to catalyze ethanol amination. These materials were very active with turnover frequencies comparable to those of supported Pt and Ni catalysts. Their activities ranked in the following order: VN>Mo2N>W2N>TiN>NbN. Like the Pt and Ni catalysts, the nitrides were very selective to the production of ethylamine. In addition, the nitrides demonstrated better selectivities to diethylamine and triethylamine at high conversion. The mechanistic pathways for ethanol amination over the nitride catalysts have been investigated. Ethanol appears to undergo reductive amination to produce ethylamine through an acetaldehyde intermediate. Ethene was produced as a byproduct via ethanol dehydration.