Selectivity of the Lindlar catalyst in alkyne semi-hydrogenation: a direct liquid-phase adsorption study

Abstract

We study the alkyne semi-hydrogenation selectivity over Pd and Lindlar catalyst with liquid phase adsorption. The results indicate that there are strongly-adsorbing alkyne and alkene sites; alkenes react non-selectively over the alkene adsorption sites. DFT studies indicate that the non-selective sites are low-coordination Pd atoms in the nanoparticles.