Fossil fuels contain sulfur compounds that poison catalytic converters and form polluting sulfur oxides when combusted. With strict environmental regulations in many countries limiting the sulfur content in transportation fuels, refiners must remove most of the sulfur impurities from petroleum fractions prior to their use as fuel.
Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) with a heterogeneous catalyst is the most widely used industrial process to remove sulfur from petroleum. In this process, a heterogeneous sulfided transition-metal catalyst facilitates the hydrogenation of the organosulfur compounds. The reaction must be performed at high temperature (320–380°C) and high hydrogen partial pressure (>30 bar). Although this method is generally effective, certain organosulfur species, in particular 4,6-dibenzothiophenes, are not efficiently removed. In addition, the high hydrogen partial pressure makes the process expensive.
Researchers have extensively investigated HDS strategies that employ homogeneous transition-metal catalysts to target the recalcitrant S-heterocycles. These strategies have not been implemented at the industrial scale due to several...
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