It is shown that copolymers of poly-(ethylene)-propyleneglycolmaleates (p-EGM and p-PGM) with acrylic acid (AA) can be used as matrices for preparation of effective metal-polymer complexes for hydrogenation of organic compounds. Electron microscopic and dynamic scattering techniques were used for determining the average nanoparticle size equal to 112 nm; the nanoparticles are spheres with uniform distribution along the polymer cross-section. The nickel and cobalt contents are 0.52 and 0.48 wt %, respectively, in p-EGM/AA, 0.49 and 0.51 wt %, respectively, in p-PGM/AA. The temperature elevation from 25 to 40 °C allows the rate of pyridine hydrogenation to be increased due to the catalyst activation, and the number of catalyst active centers to be increased due to swelling of the polymer network and its transition from tight globular to expanded state. An increase in the current strength from 1 to 3 A results in a decrease in the pyridine yield that does not allow current density to be increased in order to shorten the synthesis time. The obtained experimental data make it possible to obtain the target hydrogenation product at higher rates and yields.

SEM, TEM, XRD, XPC, and CO chemisorption techniques were used for studying physicochemical state of supported platinum and nickel surface in a number of industrial catalysts 0.5 wt % Pt/graphite (fresh, used for hydroxylamine sulfate synthesis via NO hydrogenation in sulfuric acid, regenerated samples). It was shown that the platinum particles agglomerate during the process, while the catalyst regeneration leads to finer dispersion of the supported metal. It is commonly accepted that the platinum surface is modified by sulfur during the catalyst synthesis and regeneration but XPS studies gives no evidence of this fact. The data obtained for the first time demonstrate that there are surface nitrogencontaining graphite species which are responsible for modification of adsorbability of platinum particles with respect to CO. Perhaps, the latter observation is one of the factors affecting the catalytic behavior of platinum in hydrogenation of NO.

Catalytic properties of the industrial «palladium on Sibunit» catalyst (ICT-3-31, 0.5 wt % Pd) was studied in the reaction of menthone reduction to menthol. Menthone was reduced at 250–300 °C using isopropanol as the H-donor under conditions of the reaction of hydrogen transfer (RHT). For comparison, the catalyst free reaction was conducted under identical conditions. Practically identical menthone conversions (61–62 %) were observed with and without catalyst at 350 °C but the selectivity to menthol – the target product – decreased considerably (from 98 % to 23 %) and the proportion of side products increased (from 2 to 77 % expressed as the quantity of reacted menthone) in the presence of the catalyst. When the temperature of the catalytic reaction reduced to 250 °C, the reduction selectivity increased up to 42 % but menthone conversion decreased down to 10 %. All the products of menthone conversion were identified and pathways of their formation suggested. It was established that the carbon support Sibunit catalyzed menthone dehydration at 250–350 °C thus impeding the achievement of appropriate yields of the target alcohol. The other side reactions catalyzed by ICT-3-31 were dehydrogenation followed by aromatization of p-menthenes to produce substituted benzenes – p-cymene and thymol. The application of ICT-3-31 for RHT is only advisable provided that more reactive organic substrates are involved in the reaction at below 200–250 °C or stronger H-donors are used.

The selective hydrogenation of the carboxyl group of fatty acids during synthesis of higher alcohols was studied in the presence of polymer stabilized catalysts based on noble metals. The studies were focused on the influence of the support and active metal on the yields of the target product and on the rate of substrate conversion. The highest yields, selectivity and the rates of stearyl alcohol accumulation were observed with catalysts 1%Pd/MN270, 1%Pt/MN500, 1%Ru/MN100. 1%Pd/MN270 and 1%Ru/MN100 catalysts were shown to retain their catalytic activities over at least five cycles of the multiple use, while 1%Pt/MN500 to lose it in the second cycle because of the catalyst thermal destruction during the reaction. The application of 1%Pd/MN270 for hydrogenation of carboxyl groups of stearic acid allows the yield of stearyl alcohol to be as high as 99 % at the 100 % conversion of the substrate.

The possibility of using low-sulfur Arctic diesel fuel for production of synthesis gas appropriate for solid oxide fuel cells was demonstrated. That was one-stage pre-reforming reaction in the presence of structured Ni-MgO catalysts based on high-porous foam cellulated (HPFC) material. Catalysts 10.7 wt %NiO-10 wt %MgO/HPFC, 20 wt %NiO-10 wt %MgO/HPFC were prepared, their properties characterized in Arctic diesel fuel pre-reforming at 550 °C. TEM technique was used for studying the microstructure of the catalyst coat before and after the reaction. It was revealed that the key factor affecting the operational stability of the pre-reforming catalysts was their resistance to coking. Kinetic parameters of the reaction were determined. The results obtained can be helpful for constructing energy units based on fuel cells fed by Arctic diesel fuel in the Arctic regions.

The influence of palladium concentration in catalysts Pd/SO₄/ZrO₂/Al2O₃ on the performance of n-hexane isomerization was studied. It was established that the optimal palladium loading ranged between 0.3 and 0.75 wt %. The temperature of the catalyst activation in flowing air and in H2 medium was shown to affect the catalytic properties of the Pd/SO₄/ZrO₂/Al₂O₃ system. The greatest proportion of high octane hexane isomers (2,2-dimethylbutane and 2,3-dimethylbutane) was detected with the catalysts pretreated by calcining at 350–400 °C followed by reduction at 200–250 °C.

Steam cracking of heavy oil was studied at 425 °C and 2.0 MPa in the presence of disperse catalysts based on iron and molybdenum in a slurry reactor. The catalysts were prepared via in situ decomposition of water soluble precursors of the metal salts. In the steam cracking, the yield of a total of liquid products increased against that in thermal cracking (80 and 77 wt %, respectively). The use of disperse monometal catalysts (iron- and molybdenum-containing), as well as the bimetal catalyst for catalytic steam cracking (CSC) of heavy oil resulted in an increase in the total of liquid products yield up to 85–92 wt %. In addition, CSC provided a higher yield of light fractions (T_boil <350 °C) than steam and thermal cracking processes, as well as a decrease in viscosity and density in comparison to those of the raw feedstock.

The studies dealt with the influence of mesoporous aluminosilicate (MP-Al-Si) and its mixture with nanosize nickel powder (MP-Al-Si/Ni) on the product composition of cracking of natural bitumens (Tatarstan Republic) containing less than 7 % of ibp-200°C fractions in an autoclave reactor. Addition of mesoporous aluminosilicate (5 wt.%) to bitumen was shown to favor the deep destruction of high-molecular components and to increase the proportion of fractions boiling aut below 360°C. In the presence of the MP-Al-Si/1%Ni mixture, the coke formation slowed down to less than half, the content of ibp-360 °C fractions being increased by 14.2–14.7 wt % and that of the products tars and asphaltene destruction by 1.4–2.7 wt % against their contents in the bitumen cracking products in the presence of MP-Al-Si. The use of MP-Al-Si allows the effective processing of heavy hydrocarbon materials to gasoline and diesel fraction at low yields of gas and seal products.

The traditional method for obtaining microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) from wood raw material is multi-stage and it is based on the integration of environmentally hazardous processes of pulping and bleaching of cellulose and acid hydrolysis of amorphous part of cellulose. The paper describes an improved one-stage catalytic method of microcrystalline cellulose obtaining from softwood and hardwood based on peroxide delignification of wood in acetic acid-water medium under the mild conditions (100 °C, atmospheric pressure) in the presence of an environmentally safe solid catalyst TiO₂. Experimental and mathematical optimization of the processes of MCC preparation by peroxide catalytic delignification of various types of wood was carried out. The following optimal modes of obtaining MCC with the yield 36.3–42.0 wt.% of abs. dry wood and residual lignin content ≤1.0 mas.%, hemicellulose ≤6.0 mas.% was established: for aspen – 5 wt.% H₂O₂, 25 wt.% CH₃COOH, hydromodule = 10; for birch – 5 wt.% H₂O₂, 25 wt.% CH₃COOH, hydromodule = 15; for abies – 6 wt.% H₂O₂, 30 wt.% CH₃COOH, hydromodule = 15; for larch – 6 wt.% H₂O₂, 30 wt.% CH₃COOH, hydromodule = 15.