Light-Assisted Semi-Hydrogenation of 1,3-Butadiene with Water

Sustainable processes for semi-hydrogenation of alkynes/alkadienes impurities in alkenes feedstocks are in great demand in industry as the utilization of excessive hydrogen, high temperature and unsatisfactory alkenes selectivity of the current thermo-catalytic route, however, their development is still challenging. Herein, we innovate a light-assisted semi-hydrogenation process in gas-feed fixed bed reactor, with water as hydrogen atom source by in situ photocatalysis. Using Pd/TiO₂ as model catalyst, this process shows an excellent catalytic performance for the semi-hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene, with 100 % of butenes selectivity at ≈99 % of conversion over 180 h of reaction at ambient temperature driven by 66 mW cm⁻² of irradiation intensity. This light-driven, H₂-free, ambient temperature semi-hydrogenation process, with superior performance to that of thermocatalytic route, shows attractive to bring an evolution in industrial hydrogenation technology to an economical and safe way.