Preliminary results from decahydroquinoline hydrodenitrogenation runs show that Bronsted acidity by itself will not catalyze carbon-nitrogen bond scission. The C-N bond cleavage must therefore be catalyzed by an active site, which consists of a transition metal ion in close proximity to an acid site. It appears that hydrodenitrogenation requires both an acidic and a basic site for the Hoffman E/sub 2/ elimination reaction to occur. Several catalysts have been prepared and tested, including Bronsted and Lewis acid catalysts without metal, and silica-alumina and ..gamma..-alumina impregnated with molybdenum, vanadium, nickel or iron. Our results show that the nitrogen removal rate was highest for molybdenum on ..gamma..-alumina catalyst and the rate decreased with lower Mo concentrations. Aluminum borate and aluminum borate phosphate catalysts (with or without nickel) were prepared to develop novel catalysts that would selectively coordinate the nitrogen atom and remove it without excessive hydrogenation. Results show that the support plays an important role in the nitrogen-removal process. Hydrodenitrogenation of aniline has been studied over a presulfided Ni-Mo/..gamma..-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ catalyst, and a reaction network has been proposed. Aniline hydrodenitrogenation appears to involve partial hydrogenation of the benzene ring to reduce aromatic resonance with the nitrogen atom, thus reducing the C-N …

Hydrodenitrogenation of quinoline and decahydroquinoline has been studied employing several catalysts: Bronsted and Lewis acid catalysts without metal, and silica-alumina, ..gamma..-alumina and magnesia impregnated with molybdenum, tungsten, nickel or cobalt. Our results show that nitrogen removal rate was highest for molybdenum on alumina and tungsten on silica-alumina or alumina catalysts. Nitrogen abstraction using ..gamma..-alumina support is considerably faster than with magnesia support. Several catalysts have been prepared and tested, with the emphasis on understanding the role of acidity in the carbon-nitrogen bond scission reaction. Hydrodenitrogenation of quinoline has been studied by using Ni,Mo/chlorided or fluorided alumina catalysts, with various halide concentrations. Preliminary results from this study indicate that halogenation of ..gamma..-alumina catalysts slightly enhanced the hydrogenolysis activity but showed little effect on the hydrogenation activity. Initial results from phenothiazine hydroprocessing show that carbon-sulfur bonds in the reactant are broken much faster than the carbon-nitrogen bonds. Data relevant to this reaction are being evaluated, utilizing kinetic analysis to give quantitative rates of C-N and C-S bond scission and the extents and rates of hydrogenation. Note: this report contains 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th quarterly reports.