The hydrocracking reaction of a pyrolysis fuel oil fraction using in situ generated nano-sized NiWS-sulfide catalysts is studied. The obtained catalysts were defined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The features of catalytically active phase generation, as well as its structure and morphology were considered. The catalytic reactivity of in situ generated catalysts was evaluated using the hydrocracking reaction of pyrolysis fuel oil to obtain a light fraction to be used as a feedstock for benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) production. It was demonstrated that the temperature of 380 °C, pressure of 5 MPa, and catalyst-to-feedstock ratio of 4% provide for a target fraction (IPB −180 °C) yield of 44 wt %, and the BTX yield of reaching 15 wt %.

The study investigates the activity of an in situ nanosized NiMoS catalyst in the hydrodeoxygenation of diphenyl ether. The hydrodeoxygenation product was found to primarily contain benzene, cyclohexane, and n-hexane. The study identified the effects of reaction temperature and reaction mixture composition on the conversion rate and on the quantitative composition of the product. The conversion rate reached 100% at a substrate : Mo molar ratio of 10.5 : 1. The catalysts isolated after the reaction were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The catalyst dispersion was 1.1.

In this study, an approach for the preparation of heterogeneous acid catalysts based on asphaltenes isolated from vacuum residue is proposed. Varying the conditions for the sulfonation of asphaltenes made it possible to obtain materials with an acid value of 1.16 to 2.76 meq g⁻¹ and a total sulfur content of 6.4 to 12.3 wt%. The samples obtained were characterized by acid-base titration, nitrogen adsorption, sulfur elemental analysis and transmission electron microscopy techniques, and were studied as potential acid catalysts in the ketalization reaction between glycerol and acetone. Sulfonated asphaltenes (SA) were characterized by a homogeneous distribution of sulfonic groups over the granule surface and an almost complete absence of a porous structure. The ketalization reaction in the presence of SA proceeded without intradiffusion restrictions; as a result of which, their activity was higher than for known heterogeneous catalysts. The most active SA sample (total acid value, 1.16 meq g⁻¹) had an apparent activation energy of 18.0 kJ mol⁻¹, which was lower than the value obtained for the zeolite BEA-40 (29–53 kJ mol⁻¹) and the Amberlyst 36 resin (27 kJ mol⁻¹), and was close to the value for the homogeneous p-TSA catalyst (14.5 kJ mol⁻¹). The SA heterogeneous catalysts did not show any acid leaching and had no loss of activity after five catalytic cycles, with the total turnover number TON = 7247.