To discover the reaction mechanism for the production of lactate from glycerine under alkaline hydrothermal conditions, we investigated the solvent isotope effect on transfer hydrogenation of H2O or CO2 by glycerine with 1H-, 2H-NMR, LC-MS and Gas-MS analyses. The results showed that (1) the H on the �-C of lactate was almost exchanged by D2O, which suggests that the hydroxyl (-OH) group on the 2-C of glycerine was first transformed into a carbonyl (C=O) group and then was converted back into a -OH group to form lactate; (2) a large amounts of D was found in the produced hydrogen gas, which shows that the water molecules acted as a reactant; and (3) D% in the produced hydrogen gas was far more than 50%, which straightforwardly shows that acetol was formed in the first place as the most probable intermediate by undergoing a dehydration reaction rather than a dehydrogenation reaction.

Solvent isotope effect on transfer hydrogenation of H<sub>2</sub>O with glycerine under alkaline hydrothermal conditions

248th National Meeting (2014)

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Solvent isotope effect on transfer hydrogenation of H2O with glycerine under alkaline hydrothermal conditions

Solvent isotope effect on transfer hydrogenation of H₂O with glycerine under alkaline hydrothermal conditions