Recent Advances on Heterogeneous Non-noble Metal Catalysts toward Selective Hydrogenation Reactions

Selective hydrogenation reactions provide a pivotal and promising strategy for upgrading substances with unsaturated functional groups, in which supported non-noble metal catalysts play a crucial role in determining catalytic performance toward desirable products. By means of a precipitation method, hydrothermal and solvothermal methods, sol–gel synthesis as well as ion exchange method, various kinds of supported catalysts with high efficiency have been reasonably designed and developed. The detailed investigations by virtue of comprehensive studies demonstrated that in addition to the inherent properties of metal elements, the nanosized effect, the metal-alloy effect, and the metal–support interaction impose significant influences on the resulting catalytic behavior. Moreover, we discuss the catalytic applications of heterogeneous non-noble metal catalysts with focus on the catalytic hydrogenation of unsaturated aldehydes/ketones, alkynes and alkadienes, and functionalized nitroaromatic hydrocarbons. In this review, on the basis of achievements in the representative investigations, suggestions and prospects for the further progresses in the development of heterogeneous non-noble metal catalysts toward selective hydrogenation reactions have been put forward.