To utilize plant biomass as an alternative energy source, several processes such as pyrolysis, hydrolysis, and deoxygenation are required to break down the solid biomass and refine the resulting raw oil into usable fuel. The major structural components in the solid plant biomass � cellulose and hemicellulose � are composed of several cyclic monosaccharide units linked together. These monosaccharide units share the same main structure of a heterogeneous five or six atom ring known as furanic (four carbons and one oxygen) or pyranic (five carbons and one oxygen) compounds respectively. Fundamental research on catalytic reactions of these compounds is needed to design an effective catalyst system for the production of energy from biomass resources. Our research targets 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (a five atom ring molecule) and 2-methyltetrahydropyran (a six atom ring molecule) as representative compounds of biomass derived oil. Earlier studies of the hydrodeoxygenation reaction of 2-methyltetrahydrofuran over a nickel phosphide catalyst showed that the molecule interacts with a single nickel site, and that the rate-determining step was opening of the tetrahydrofuran ring to form either n-pentanal or 2-pentanone. The pentanal can undergo a decarbonylation reaction to n-butane or a hydrogenation reaction to 1-pentanol and eventually n-pentane, while the 2-pentanone forms 2-pentanol and finally n-pentane. In this work, catalytic reactions of 2-methyltetrahydropyran are explored using similar catalysts. Here, the results of deoxygenation of the model compound on various phosphide catalysts will be presented and discussed. A comparison between the reactions of the two compounds on the same catalyst provides insight on the nature of the catalytic surface of transition metal phosphide catalysts.

Hydrodeoxygenation of 2-methyltetrahydropyran using transition metal phosphide catalysts

248th National Meeting (2014)

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