INELASTIC NEUTRON-SCATTERING STUDY OF ACETONITRILE ADSORBED ON RANEY-NICKEL

A vibrational study of acetonitrile adsorbed on Raney nickel has been performed using inelastic neutron scattering. The chemisorption is ass ociative and no C-H bond breaking is observed up to 393 K. Acetonitril e is found to be adsorbed parallel to the surface. The vibrational mod es of the molecule are not very perturbed, this indicates a weak inter action with the surface. The coverage of the metal surface by acetonit rile is small, which has also been observed in the hydrogenation react ion in the gas phase. The excellent selectivity for the primary amine formation can be explained by this weak chemisorption.