Transcripción del resumen del autor. Controlled reduction by hydrogen of an equivalent of 5 monolayers of MoO3 deposited on TiO2 enabled the reduction of the upper 2-3 monolayers of MoO3 to MoO2 with a bifunctional MoO2-x(OH)y phase on the outermost surface layer. Hydroisomerization reactions of linear C5-C7 hydrocarbons, present either as a pure phase or as a mixture, on this molybdenum bifunctional phase produce branched species of relatively high octane numbers, as compared to reactant molecules. Bench-scale catalytic experiments that were comparable to industrial conditions were conducted using 15 g of catalyst under a hydrogen pressure of 5 bar, a hydrogen flow rate of 30 SLPH, a liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) of 0.8 h-1, and a reaction temperature of 623 K. Time-on-stream experiments for several days showed no changes in neither the conversion nor the isomerization selectivity. The stability and resistance of the catalytic system toward poisoning by hydrocarbon species, water, and sulfur- and nitrogen-containing compounds is attributed to the moderate strength of the (metal-acid) functions and to the fact that individual Mo atoms are present in alignment positions placed along the c-axis of the deformed rutile structure of MoO2 phase. This particular surface configuration enabled one to perform hydroisomerization reactions of n-heptane under the aforementioned experimental conditions, in contrast to platinum-based catalysts, in which hydrocracking reactions of n-heptane were observed. Possible replacement of the platinum-based catalysts by the bifunctional MoO2-x(OH)y catalyst at the industrial level is under consideration.

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