Heterogeneous Isomerization for Stereoselective Alkyne Hydrogenation to trans-Alkene Mediated by Frustrated Hydrogen Atoms

Stereoselective production of alkenes from the alkyne hydrogenation plays a crucial role in the chemical industry. However, for heterogeneous metal catalysts, the olefins in cis-configuration are usually dominant in the products due to the most important and common Horiuti-Polanyi mechanism involved over the metal surface. In this work, through combined theoretical and experimental investigations, we demonstrate a novel isomerization mechanism mediated by the frustrated hydrogen atoms via the H2 dissociation at the defect on solid surface, which can lead to the switch in selectivity from the cis-configuration to trans-configuration without overhydrogenation. The defective Rh2S3 with exposing facet of (110) exhibits outstanding performance as a heterogeneous metal catalyst for stereoselective production of trans-olefins. With the frustrated hydrogen atoms at spatially separated high-valence Rh sites, the isolated hydrogen mediated cis-to-trans isomerization of olefins can be effectively conducted and the overhydrogenation can be completely inhibited. Furthermore, the bifunctional Rh-S/Pd nanosheets have been synthesized through the surface modification of Pd nanosheets with rhodium and sulfide. With the selective semihydrogenation of alkynes into cis-olefins catalyzed by the small surface PdSx ensembles, the bifunctional Rh-S/Pd nanosheets exhibit excellent activity and stereoselectivity in the one-pot alkyne hydrogenation into trans-olefin, which surpasses the most reported homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts.