Hydrogenation Reduction

Alkenes undergo reduction by the addition of molecular hydrogen to give alkanes. Because the process generally occurs in the presence of a transition-metal catalyst, the reaction is called catalytic hydrogenation. Metals like palladium, platinum, and nickel are commonly used in their solid forms — fine powder on an inert surface. As these catalysts remain insoluble in the reaction mixture, they are referred to as heterogeneous catalysts. The hydrogenation process takes place on the surface of...

Unlike the easy catalytic hydrogenation of an alkene double bond, hydrogenation of a benzene double bond under similar reaction conditions does not take place easily. For example, in the reduction of stilbene, the benzene ring remains unaffected while the alkene bond gets reduced. Hydrogenation of an alkene double bond is exothermic and a favorable process. In contrast, to hydrogenate the first unsaturated bond of benzene, an energy input is needed; that is, the process is endothermic. This is...

Catalytic hydrogenation of alkenes is a transition-metal catalyzed reduction of the double bond using molecular hydrogen to give alkanes. The mode of hydrogen addition follows syn stereochemistry. The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...

Introduction Like alkenes, alkynes can be reduced to alkanes in the presence of transition metal catalysts such as Pt, Pd, or Ni. The reaction involves two sequential syn additions of hydrogen via a cis-alkene intermediate. Thermodynamic Stability Catalytic hydrogenation reactions help evaluate the relative thermodynamic stability of hydrocarbons. For example, the heat of hydrogenation of acetylene is −176 kJ/mol, and that of ethylene is −137 kJ/mol. The higher exothermicity associated with...

Source: Vy M. Dong and Zhiwei Chen, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA This experiment will demonstrate the hydrogenation of chalcone as an example of an alkene hydrogenation reaction (Figure 1). In this experiment, palladium on carbon (Pd/C) will be used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the process. A balloon will be used to supply the hydrogen atmosphere. Figure 1: Diagram showing the hydrogenation of chalcone to 3-phenylpropiophenone.