Environmentally benign processes require chemical transformations that feature 'green' characteristics such as catalytical, atom-economy, selective, and reusable.Biomass is an appealing renewable and abundant carbon neutral source. Glycerol is a byproduct of biodiesel production that has been in oversupply since 1995. Environmentally-friendly and efficient conversion of glycerol (or other biomass-derived polyols such as erythritol and threitol) is desirable. In the first part, we reported on Re catalysts that can catalytically produce small and useful organics (SUO) from biomass-derived polyols under neat conditions and reasonably mild temperatures. The main products are allylic alcohol from glycerol and 2,5-dihydrofuran from erythritol. Based on kinetic isotope effect study and control experiments, a mechanism is proposed that involves transfer hydrogenation on a bifunctional catalytic site.Developing a clean energy supply is needed to sustain the rising global population and need for energy. Hydrogen is one of the most promising and green fuels. A series of Rh, Ir homogeneous catalysts have been used for the dehydrogenation of alcohols. Modification of the ligand has provided some insight and control on reactivity. However, very limited studies on Re-catalyzed dehydrogenation of alcohols are available. We will present a robust and fully recyclable Re catalyst that produces directly dihydrogen and ketone from alcohol under neat conditions.

Applications of rhenium catalysts

246th National Meeting (2013)

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