Behavior of skeletal copper-palladium catalysts in enantioselective hydrogenation

1. It has been established that skeletal Cu-Pd catalysts contain phases of Pd and Cu or a Pd-based solid solution, and also Pd, and Al2O3·3H2O. 2. The adsorption of hydrogen on these catalysts in a 0.1 N H2SO4 solution has been investigated, and it has been found that the quantity of hydrogen adsorbed on the skeletal copper-palladium catalysts drops off very rapidly as the Pd content in the Metallic phase is increased from 5.1% to 15.1% (at.). 3. The possibility of catalytic activation of the copper by the palladium has been demonstrated, and also the capability of the skeletal copper-palladium catalysts for performing enantioselective hydrogenation.