A Pd-Np/Ac-Catalyzed Transfer-Hydrogenation of Mesityl Oxide to Methyl Isobutyl Ketone using Sodium Formate as Hydrogen Donor

Methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) is an alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compound, which is often used as solvent and extractor for antibiotics in the pharmaceutical industry. One alternative to the synthesis of MIBK from mesityl oxide (MO) is through catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) using various organic compounds as hydrogen donors in the presence of a catalyst. The purpose of this study was to synthesize MIBK from MO through the CTH reaction using sodium formate as the hydrogen donor and as the catalyst, Pd nanoparticles were used and deposited on the activated charcoal (Pd-NP/AC). Based on the Gas Chromatography-Mass spectrometer (GC-MS) analysis, the conversion value of MO was obtained in 97.3% and the yield of the MIBK formation was 10.5%. Meanwhile, the highest selectivity was obtained in 17% at 40 degrees C. The results show that sodium formate can effectively be used to reduce MO into MIBK in the presence of Pd-NP/AC catalyst at 70 degrees C for 5 hours.