Acid-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Olefins. A Theoretical Study of the HF- and H<inf>3</inf>O⁺-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Ethylene

The HF- and H3O+-catalyzed hydrogenation of ethylene and the direct addition of molecular hydrogen to ethylene have been studied theoretically by means of ab initio MO calculations using different levels of theory. The main results are that catalysis by HF lowers the potential energy barrier to a large extent, while catalysis by H3O+ diminishes dramatically the barrier for the reaction. Entropic contributions leave these results unchanged. The mechanisms of the two acid-catalyzed hydrogenations are somewhat different. While catalysis by HF exhibits bifunctional characteristics, catalysis by H3O+ proceeds via an initial formation of a carbocation. It is shown that catalysis by strong acids may be an alternate way for olefin hydrogenation. © 1987, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.