The use of aromatic compound hydrogenation is of particular importance in the refinery industry. High concentrations of arenes in diesel fuels lead to elevated levels of particulate matter emission. Most metallic hydrogenation catalysts are supported on Al₂O₃, SiO₂, or MgO.

Michał Zieliński and co-workers, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland, have used magnesium fluoride as the support for an iridium active phase to obtain new catalysts for the hydrogenation of toluene. Catalysts with the new support were four times more active than those supported on commercial Al₂O₃. The dispersion of Ir on the MgF₂ depended on the pretreatment method and catalysts with the greatest dispersion showed the best activity.

^{Image: © Wiley-VCH}

• New Promising Iridium Catalyst for Toluene Hydrogenation
  M. Zieliński, M. Pietrowski, M. Wojciechowska,
  ChemCatChem 2011.
  DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201100061