COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF RH AL2O3 AND RH-MO/AL2O3 CATALYSTS/

Alumina supported rhodium and rhodium-molybdenum catalysts, prepared b y non-aqueous, sequential chemisorption, are compared for CO hydrogena tion. The catalysts are also characterized by in situ FTIR. The observ ed significant increase in CO hydrogenation activity and oxygenate sel ectivity and the presence of highly dispersed rhodium on the molybdenu m promoted rhodium catalysts are related to the site isolation effect of molybdenum. The parity of rhodium and molybdenum in the catalysts s eems to be important for improving oxygenate yield.