The selective reduction of oxygen with hydrogen, known as hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), is a reaction that has gained significant interest in the C-O bond cleavage of biomass-derived substrates. Recently, catalysts comprised of supported rhenium oxide species and noble metal promoters such as palladium have been studied for the HDO of biomass-derived sugar alcohols to diols. Although these catalysts exhibit excellent catalytic performance, the use of rare and expensive rhenium impedes large-scale implementation of these materials in economically viable HDO processes. We have developed catalytic materials for the HDO of 1,4-anhydroerythritol (1,4-ANHERY) to tetrahydrofuran (THF), which eliminates the use of rhenium. Catalysts are comprised of a noble metal (i.e., Pd, Pt), and a metal-oxide (i.e., WOx, MoOx) on reducible metal-oxide supports (i.e., TiO2, ZrO2). Reaction conditions (i.e., temperature, hydrogen pressure, reactant concentration) and catalyst composition (i.e., metal-oxide species/noble metal ratio) have been optimized to maximize THF yields. Catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), and elemental analysis. Our characterization results suggest that palladium serves as a hydrogenation metal and a promoter for the formation of highly dispersed supported metal-oxide species with intermediate oxidation states. Lastly, we have evaluated catalyst stability under HDO reaction conditions.

Hydrodeoxygenation of 1,4-anhydroerythritol to tetrahydrofuran over heterogeneous catalysts

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.