Video Transcript
A catalyst was developed in the
1920s by American engineer Murray Raney. It is used in the hydrogenation of
oils. What is the name of the d-block
element in period four that makes up this catalyst?
Here we must identify the period
four d-block element that is used in a catalyst developed by Murray Raney for the
hydrogenation of oils. Let’s first identify the d-block
elements in period four. These elements are scandium through
zinc, shown here. We need to recognize the engineer’s
surname, Raney, which is part of this catalyst’s name.
A commonly used hydrogenation
catalyst in industry and in laboratory use is called a Raney nickel catalyst. The Raney nickel catalyst is
primarily composed of nickel derived from a nickel–aluminum alloy. It is a fine-grained solid with a
gray color. Some grades of Raney nickel
catalyst are pyrophoric. That is, they can spontaneously
ignite in air at or below 54 degrees Celsius.
This substance can catalyze
hydrogenation reactions. For example, it is used to
hydrogenate the unsaturated bonds in compounds such as benzene to produce
cyclohexane, a starting material for the manufacture of other materials such as
nylon. Raney nickel is also routinely used
to hydrogenate unsaturated bonds in liquid vegetable oil molecules. The chemists use this catalytic
substance to break the 𝜋 bond in some carbon–carbon double bonds to add on hydrogen
atoms. The catalytic process can make a
thick and easy-to-spread product better for sale.
So, what is the name of the d-block
element in period four that makes up this hydrogenation catalyst? The answer is nickel.
