Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), developed in the early 1900's, is defined as the catalytic conversion of H2 and CO to hydrocarbons and oxygenates with the production of H2O and CO2. Accurate microkinetic modeling can in principle provide insights into catalyst design and the role of promoters. This work focused on gaining an understanding of the chemistry of the kinetically relevant steps in FTS on Fe catalyst and developing a microkinetic model that describes FTS reaction kinetics. Stable Al2O3-supported/promoted (20% Fe, 1% K, 1% Pt) and unsupported Fe (99% Fe, 1% Al2O3) catalysts were prepared and characterized. Transient experiments including temperature programmed desorption (TPD), temperature programmed hydrogenation (TPH), and isothermal hydrogenation (ITH) provided insights into the chemistry and energetics of the early elementary reactions in FTS on Fe catalyst. Microkinetic models of CO TPD, ITH, and FTS were developed for Fe catalyst by combining transition state theory and UBI-QEP formalism. These models support the conclusion that hydrocarbon formation occurs on Fe via a dual mechanism involving surface carbide and formyl intermediates; nevertheless, hydrocarbon formation is more favorable via the carbide mechanism. Carbon hydrogenation was found to be the rate determining step in the carbide mechanism. CO heat of adsorption on polycrystalline Fe at zero coverage was estimated to be -91.6 kJ/mol and -64.8 kJ/mol from ITH and FTS models respectively, while a mean value of -50.0 kJ/mol was estimated from the TPD model. Statistically designed steady-state kinetic experiments at conditions similar to industrial operating conditions were used to obtain rate data. The rate data were used to develop a microkinetic model of FTS. FTS and ITH appear to follow similar reaction pathways, although the energetics are slightly different. In both cases, hydrocarbon formation via the carbide mechanism was more favorable than via a formyl intermediate while carbon hydrogenation was the rate determining step. Promotion of Fe with K does not alter Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction pathways but it does alter the energetics for the steps leading to the formation of CO2. This phenomenon accounts for the CO2 selectivity of 0.3 observed for K-promoted Fe against 0.17 observed for un-promoted Fe. A Langmuir Hinshelwood rate expression derived from the microkinetic model was put into a fixed bed FTS reactor design code; calculated reactor sizes, throughput, temperature profiles and conversion are similar to those of pilot and demonstration FTS reactors with similar feed rates and compositions.

[pt] A reação de síntese de Fischer-Tropsch tem despertado interesse pelo seu caráter tecnológico e científico uma vez que este processo é capaz de converter o gás natural em produtos de elevado valor agregado. No presente trabalho, catalisadores de ferro suportados em sílica alumina ou em SBA-15 foram sintetizados, caracterizados, ativados e empregados na síntese de Fischer Tropsch. Os catalisadores foram preparados via impregnação incipiente do ponto úmido utilizando cloreto de ferro III, obtendo-se catalisadores de porcentagem mássica próximos a 5%, 10% e, no caso da sílica alumina, 2% também. As amostras foram caracterizadas por análise termogravimétrica (ATG), por medidas de adsorção física de N2, difração de raios-X (DRX) e redução à temperatura programada (RTP). O teor de ferro foi determinado pela espectroscopia de raios X por dispersão de energia (EDX). A ativação dos catalisadores e, em seguida, os testes catalíticos foram conduzidos em um reator tubular de bancada e os produtos gasosos foram analisados através de cromatografia gasosa com detector por ionização de chama (CG-DIC), cuja análise mostrou a formação de hidrocarbonetos C1-C5. A adsorção física de N2 revelou que, a introdução de ferro nos suportes, diminuiu a área superficial específica e o volume de poro dos materiais. A difração de raios X foi realizada para os catalisadores após a calcinação, mostrando a presença das fases α-Fe2O3 e Fe3O4; após a ativação e após a reação, onde se encontrou Fe0 e carbetos de ferro Fe5C2 e Fe2C. Os testes catalíticos mostraram maior seletividade aos hidrocarbonetos C2-3 para os catalisadores suportados em SBA-15. / [en] The Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction has showed interest due to its technological and scientific character since the process is able to convert natural gas into high added value products. In the present work, iron catalysts supported on SBA-15 or silica doped alumina were synthesized, characterized, activated and employed in the Fischer Tropsch synthesis. The catalysts were prepared via incipient wetness impregnation method using iron III chloride, obtaining catalysts with a weight percentage of about 5%, 10% and, in the case of silica doped alumina, 20% as well. The samples were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (ATG), with measurements of N2 physisorption, X-ray diffraction (DRX) and temperature programmed reduction (RTP). Iron content was determined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The catalysts activation and, subsequently, their catalytic tests were conducted in a bench tubular reactor and the products were analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (CG-DIC), where it was detected the formation of C1-C4 hydrocarbons. The N2 physisorption showed that the introduction iron in the supports decreased the specific surface area and the pore volume of the materials. X-ray diffraction was performed for catalysts after calcination, showing the presence of α-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 phases, after activation and after reaction, where it was found crystals of Fe0 and iron carbides Fe5C2 and Fe2C. The catalytic tests showed greater C2-3 selectivity for SBA-15 supported catalysts.

Ce mémoire de thèse se concentre sur le développement de réactions multicatalysées impliquant une activation iminium et un transfert d’hydrogène réversible rédox-neutre pour la synthèse de briques moléculaires complexes énantioenrichies à partir de composés 1,3-dicarbonylés et d’alcools allyliques.Une cascade réactionnelle combinant un complexe de fer et une pyrrolidine chirale a été développée pour la préparation d’alcools g-fonctionnalisés énantioenrichis par une approche impliquant économie d’étapes et d’atomes. L’efficacité de cette méthode impliquant une catalyse duale ainsi qu’une étape de rétro-Claisen a été démontré dans la synthèse de fragments clés de produits naturels. Cette méthodologie a ensuite été complétée par une étude mécanistique expérimentale aboutissant à une meilleure compréhension du mécanisme de cette transformation et conduisant également au développement d’une catalyse triple impliquant deux complexes métalliques et un organocatalyseur. Par la suite, une nouvelle approche pour la synthèse de lactones énantioenrichies de taille de cycles moyens a été mise au point. Cette stratégie de synthèse est basée sur une addition-1,4- organocatalysée énantiosélective de Michael, suivie d’une réduction chimiosélective qui engendre une fragmentation de Claisen.Enfin, grâce aux méthodologies développées au cours de cette thèse, la synthèse totale d’un produit naturel, la floribundane B, a été étudiée. / This manuscript is focus on the development of multicatalyzed reactions involving iminium activation and reversible neutral hydrogen transfer reaction for the synthesis of complexe enantioenriched building blocks from allyl alcohols and 1,3-dicarbonyls.An unprecedented cascade catalysis combining an iron catalyst and a pyrrolidine-base catalyst is developed for the preparation of g-fonctionalized enantioenriched alcohols in a formal redox-, atom- and step-economical approach. The efficiency of this method involving a dual catalysis and a retro-Claisen xas further demonstrated in the short synthesis of several key fragments of biologically active natural products or odorant molecule. This methodolgy was then incremented by a experimental mechanistic study allowing a better understanding of the mechanism of this transformation and leading to a new catalytic systeminvolving three different catalysts (iron complex, copper and organocatalyst). Then, we focused on the development of a new synthetic approach to enantioenriched medium-sized lactones. This methodology is based on a 1,4-Michael addition of cycloalkane-1,3-diones to a,b-insaturated aldehydes. Then, a key chemoselective reductively triggered Claisen fragmentation occurred to generate desired lactones in a rapid manner.Finally, thanks to our methodology developed during this thesis, the total synthesis of floribundane B was studied.

Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) is a promising technology for the production of ultra-clean fuels and chemical feedstocks from biomass, coal, or natural gas. Iron catalysts are ideal for conversion of coal and biomass. However, precipitated iron catalysts used in slurry-bubble column reactors suffer from high attrition resulting in difficulty separating catalysts from product and increased slurry viscosity. Thus, development of an active and selective-supported iron catalyst to manage attrition is needed. This thesis focuses on the development of a supported iron catalyst and kinetic models of FTS on the catalyst using advanced statistical methods for experimental design and analysis. A high surface area alumina, modified by the addition of approximately 2 wt% lanthanum, was impregnated with approximately 20 wt% Fe and 1% Pt in a two step procedure. Approximately 10 wt% Fe and 0.5 wt% Pt was added in each step. The catalyst had a CO uptake of 702 μmol/g, extent of reduction of 69%, and was reduced at 450°C. The catalyst was stable over H2 partial pressures of 4-10 atm, CO partial pressures of 1-4 atm, and temperatures of 220-260°C. Weisz modulus values were less than 0.15. A Langmuir-Hinshelwood type rate expression, derived from a proposed FTS mechanism, was used with D-optimal criterion to develop experiments sequentially at 220°C and 239°C. Joint likelihood confidence regions for the rate expression parameters with respect to run number indicate rapid convergence to precise-parameter estimates. Difficulty controlling the process at the designed conditions and steep gradients around the D-optimal criterion resulted in consecutive runs having the same optimal condition. In these situations another process condition was chosen to avoid consecutive replication of the same process condition. A kinetic model which incorporated temperature effects was also regressed. Likelihood and bootstrap confidence intervals suggested that the model parameters were precise. Histograms and skewness statistics calculated from Bootstrap resampling show parameter-effect nonlinearities were small.