Silica-supported copper-iron catalysts for hydrogenolysis reactions characterized by Mössbauer spectroscopy

A special preparation procedure has been developed to provide a very uniform distribution of iron throughout the copper precursor supported on silica. The best performance for hydrogenolysis of methyl acetate has been obtained for a catalyst prepared in a one-step procedure, in which iron(III) and copper(II) were injected together into a suspension of silica at a constant pH level. It is found that the main part of the iron has been incorporated into the formed copper hydrosilicate. After reduction and under reaction conditions, only about 6% of the iron atoms are in the Fe0 state. This Fe0 is expected to be responsible for the enhancement of the catalyst activity in hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis reactions.