Development of catalysts for hydrogenation of carbon-based substrates

Abstract

Aromatic nitro compounds belong to the class of harmful and toxic chemicals. They are identified as environmental pollutants which persist for a long time and contaminate our resources and health. Hydrogenation of such compounds to their respective amines is favourable to remove these compounds from our environment and convert them to other useful but less harmful chemical compounds. This thesis is focused on aqueous phase hydrogenation of range of aromatic nitro substrates in the presence of bimetallic Ni@Pd nanoparticles. Along with good conversion, the studied nanoparticle catalyst showed good recyclability up to five cycles. The course of my thesis is as follows: The 1st chapter consists of general introduction to nitroarenes and their reduced products. The 2 nd chapter involves description of the experimental procedures that were adopted for catalyst synthesis and performing the different catalytic reactions. The 3rd chapter has detailed discussion about the results of various hydrogenation experiments performed. The last chapter includes the conclusion of my thesis with major findings. Main goal of this thesis is to develop an active and efficient heterogeneous catalyst which is active under environment benign conditions. This thesis is majorly focused on development of catalyst to provide a facile pathway for hydrogenation of nitroarenes.