Diverting a fraction of carbohydrates to value-added chemicals can potentially decrease the price of renewable fuels greatly, similar to a conventional petroleum refinery. Succinic acid has been identified as a promising biomass-derived, platform chemical produced from the biological transformation of lignocellulosic sugars. Of note, succinic acid can be chemo-catalytically converted to 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BDO), which has a significant market size and market value. Conventional platinum-group metal hydrogenation catalysts (e.g., Pt, Pd, Ru) have exhibited poor selectivity in the conversion of succinic acid to 1,4-BDO; however, the addition of oxophillic secondary metals (e.g., Sn, Re) to these catalysts has been shown to be critical. In this work, bimetallic catalysts were synthesized on activated carbon support and screened for activity and selectivity in reactions of varying conditions and durations. Based on results from batch-reaction screenings, the most promising catalyst was down-selected for further testing in a continuous trickle-bed reactor to provide insight into factors governing catalyst stability and potential modes of deactivation. Catalysts were extensively characterized before and after the reaction, with an emphasis on active site sintering, support collapse, pore blockage, and active metal leaching. Findings from these efforts can inform upstream separation operations and catalyst material design for the conversion of a wide-array of biologically derived metabolites to value-added chemicals. <br/>

Bimetallic catalysts for the aqueous phase reduction of succinic acid to 1,4-butanediol

251st National Meeting (2016)

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