Coupling of 1,4-butanediol dehydrogenation reaction with the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene over Cu/MgO catalysts

Dehydrogenation of 1,4-butanediol to gamma-butyrolactone reaction has been coupled with the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene to aniline in the vapor phase using a fixed bed reactor in the presence of Cu/Mgo catalysts. These Cu/MgO catalysts have been prepared by co-precipitation method and characterized by BET surface area, XRD, TPR. and N2O pulse-chemisorption techniques. The positive effect of 1,4-butanediol dehydrogenation reaction due to coupling with the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene over Cu/MgO catalysts has been described. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.