Synchronized dehydrogenation-hydrogenation reactions over partially reduced MoO2 based catalyst for simultaneous synthesis of styrene and aniline

Abstract The coupling of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation with hydrogenation of nitrobenzene to produce styrene and aniline over a single MoO x supported on TiO 2 -Al 2 O 3 catalyst was performed. The study determines the feasibility of in situ H 2 generation from dehydrogenation reaction and its direct utilization in hydrogenation reaction. Consequently, this eliminates the additional supply of H 2 for hydrogenation of nitrobenzene. Alternatively, the heat liberated from the hydrogenation reaction can be utilized by endothermic dehydrogenation reaction. The active MoO 2 species could effectively catalyse both the reactions to yield styrene and aniline simultaneously.