The Pd₄S phase of palladium sulfide is known to be a highly selective alkyne hydrogenation catalyst at atmospheric pressure. Results presented here demonstrate that high selectivity can be retained at the elevated pressures required in industrial application. For example, in a mixed acetylene/ethylene feed, 100% conversion of acetylene was attained with a selectivity to ethylene in excess of 80% at 18 bar pressure. Similarly, almost 85% selectivity can be obtained with mixed C3 feeds containing methyl acetylene, propadiene, propylene and propane at 18 bar pressure. Using a low loaded sample (0.1 wt% Pd) it was possible to estimate the TOF to be 27 s⁻¹. High selectivity was related to the crystal structure of Pd₄S with the unique spatial arrangement thought to favour Pd atoms acting in isolation from one another. Based on these results, it is proposed that this catalyst could be a potential replacement for PdAg alloys currently used by industry.

已知在大气压下硫化钯的Pd ₄ S相是高度选择性的炔烃加氢催化剂。此处给出的结果表明，在工业应用中所需的高压下可以保持高选择性。例如，在乙炔/乙烯混合进料中，在18巴的压力下，乙炔的转化率达到了100％，对乙烯的选择性超过80％。类似地，在18 bar压力下，使用含有甲基乙炔，丙二烯，丙烯和丙烷的混合C3进料，可以获得近85％的选择性。使用低负载样品（0.1 wt％Pd），可以估计TOF为27 s ^-1。高选择性与Pd ₄的晶体结构有关具有独特空间排列的S被认为有利于Pd原子彼此独立地起作用。基于这些结果，提出该催化剂可以潜在地替代当前工业上使用的PdAg合金。