Effects of MN4-Type Coordination Structure in Metallophthalocyanine for Bio-Inspired Oxidative Desulfurization Performance

Abstract

Oxidative desulfurization (ODS) is the promising new method for super deep desulfurization of fuel oil. The oxidative desulfurization performance of the metal-N4-chelates metallophthalocyanines (MPcs) is related to the chemical properties of conjugate structures and the central metal ions. Herein, a biomimetic catalytic system composed of metallophthalocyanines (MPcR4, M = Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II); R = -H, -COOH, -NO2, -NH2) and molecular O2 was performed to study the influence of MN4-type coordination structure in metallophthalocyanines for the degradation of dibenzothiophene (DBT) in model oil containing n-octane. The results reveal that the conjugate structures and the center metal ions of metallophthalocyanines played key roles in oxidative desulfurization performance. The inductive effect of different R substituents strongly affected the electron cloud distribution of the conjugate structures and the catalytic performance. Moreover, the catalytic activity of MPcs, which is related to the d electronic configuration and ligand-field effects, does not sequentially increase with the increase in the d electron number of central metal ions.