Selective Hydrogenation of 2-Butyne-1,4-diol to 1,4-Butanediol Over Particulate Raney® Nickel Catalysts

The current study describes the results on the selective hydrogenation of the 2-butyne-1,4-diol to 1,4-butanediol over Raney® nickel catalysts both in batch and in CSTR mode. The detailed kinetic analysis of the reaction in batch mode revealed the existence of three characteristic regions. In the first region, A, the starting 2-butyne-1,4-diol produces primarily cis-2-butene-1,4-diol. In the second region, B, the dominant species is cis-2-butene-1,4-diol, which is either hydrogenated to 1,4-butanediol or isomerizes to trans-2-butene-1,4-diol. In the third region, C, the accumulated 4-hydroxybutanal is slowly hydrogenated to 1,4-butanediol. When the same reaction was carried out in a CSTR mode, the only products detected initially are the 1,4-butanediol and n-butanol. The first by-product detected immediately after the end of the first stage is the linear hemiacetal between the 4-hydroxybutanal with 1,4-butanediol. This species has been used as convenient tracer for determining the length of the selective region of the catalyst performance.