Carboxylic acids comprise a relatively accessible class of bio-based platform chemicals. They can be produced from a variety of sources using both biological and catalytic technologies. Their direct commercial applications; however, are limited, so one generally aims to convert them into value-added commodities by catalytic upgrading. Carboxylic acids are oxygen-rich relative to targeted fuels and petrochemicals, and a common goal of catalytic processing is to partially reduce their oxygen content—converting them into alcohols and aldehydes—while avoiding undesired side reactions. The major selectivity challenges during partial HDO are avoiding complete removal of oxygen and limiting the extent of C-C scission via decarbonylation, decarboxylation, and C-C hydrogenolysis. Intrinsically, we observe that Pt is a very active catalyst for carboxylic acid reduction; unfortunately, it is nonselective, aggressively promoting decarbonylation, which yields carbon monoxide and low value hydrocarbon fragments. Doping Pt with Sn is widely observed to improve both activity and selectivity (toward production of aldehydes and alcohols) in this system. Here, we attempt to elucidate the origins of enhanced activity and selectivity by comparing the performance of Pt and PtSn catalysts during the hydrodeoxygenation of propionic acid; where possible, we interpret data through microkinetic analysis in order to resolve intrinsic differences in the performance of the systems.

Understanding the impact of Sn addition during the selective hydrodeoxygenation of carboxylic acids over Pt

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.