Diastereoselective hydrogenation of a prostaglandin intermediate over Ru supported on MCM-41 and MCM-48

Ru-MCM-41 and MCM-48 catalysts were prepared via deposition of Ru from various precursors RuCl 3 .3H 2 O, [Ru(NH 3 ) 6 ]Cl 2 and Ru(acac) 3 . The samples were characterised using several techniques: adsorption and desorption curves of N 2 at 77K, TPO, TPR, XRD, XPS, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and TEM. After deposition and activation the support keeps the structural features of the MCM materials, but Ru exists in different dispersion and reduction states both inside of the MCM pores and on the amorphous part of the material depending on the precursor nature. The distribution of the metal inside and on the external surface controls the selectivity to allylic alcohol. But the diastereoselectivity in this reaction was found to be influenced by the interaction occurring inside of the MCM pore lattice and by the solvent.