Use of organometallic chemistry for hydrotreatment catalyst development

This paper describes our use of organometallic chemistry to develop enhanced hydrotreatment catalysts. The approach involves (1) identifying the most active catalytic metals, (2) choosing precursors that will be easily activated into these materials under mild conditions, and (3) then increasing the surface area to provide a highly active catalyst. We describe our efforts in studying hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) reactions, including homogeneous reaction chemistry of the CN bond, development of enhanced HDN catalysts for coal liquids, and some applications of organometallic chemistry towards coal liquefaction.