Tracing Active Sites in Supported Ni Catalysts during Butene Oligomerization by Operando Spectroscopy under Pressure

Abstract

Supported Ni catalysts have been studied during the dimerization of butenes by operando electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at 353 K and up to 16 bar. Single NiI/NiII shuttles were identified as active sites, whereby the conversion of initial NiI to NiII by oxidative addition of butene is obviously faster than the re-reduction of NiII to NiI by reductive elimination of the C8 product, rendering the equilibrium percentage of NiI small. At p ≤ 2 bar, NiI single sites form inactive Ni0 aggregates, while this is suppressed at higher pressure (∼12 bar). A reaction mechanism is proposed.