Highly dispersed and confined Ni/MMO catalyst synthesized in a rotating packed bed for hydrogenation of maleic anhydride

Catalytic hydrogenation of maleic anhydride (MA) into succinic anhydride (SA) is one of the most important transformations in synthetic organic chemistry. Herein, we firstly synthesized well-dispersed nickel particles confined by mixed metal oxides (Ni/MMO) derived from in situ transformation of Ni-Al hydrotalcite in a rotating packed bed (RPB) to catalyze this process. A series of Ni/MMO catalysts (63 wt%–89 wt% Ni) were effectively fabricated and the structure–activity relationship was established. Results showed that a Ni/MMO catalyst (82 wt% Ni) with substantial surface defect sites and the highest Ni surface area among the prepared Ni/MMO catalysts, demonstrates the highest activity with ~100% MA conversion and ~100% selectivity to SA under 25°C within 77 min. This is, to our knowledge, the highest conversion and selectivity under room temperature to date. Moreover, the Ni/MMO catalyst prepared by RPB has higher specific surface area and Ni surface area, therefore possessing a higher hydrogenation rate compared to that by stirred tank reactor (1.69 vs. 1.36, 10⁻³·mol_MA/g_cat/min). These results will provide an attractive option of the catalysts for MA hydrogenation, and a novel strategy for synthesizing nickel catalyst derived from Ni-Al hydrotalcite.