Alumina-Supported Copper Chloride: 1. Characterization of Freshly Prepared Catalyst

Alumina-supported CuCl2, the basic catalyst for ethylene oxychlorination, has been investigated 1 hour after preparation by UV–vis spectroscopy, a solubility test, EPR, EXAFS, and XRD in a wide range (0.25–9.0 wt%) of Cu concentration. We have evidenced that, at low Cu content, the formation of a surface aluminate species takes place, where isolated Cu(II) ions occupy octahedral vacancies of the alumina surface, having (within experimental errors) five oxygen ligands at 1.92±0.02 Å. The chlorine released by copper chloride during its interaction with alumina gives >Al–Cl species. The formation of this surface copper aluminate stops at 0.95 wt% Cu/100 m2; at higher Cu concentrations excess copper chloride precipitates directly from solution during the drying step, forming an amorphous CuCl2·2H2O phase, overlapping progressively the surface aluminate. A slow hydrolysis, giving traces of paratacamite, an insoluble Cu hydroxochloride, also occurs. A room temperature dehydration process up to 10−3 Torr implies the evolution of CuCl2·2H2O into anhydrous CuCl2 as a consequence of the loss of the crystallization water.