Copper-doped porous metal oxides derived from hydrotalcites are effective catalysts for hydrogen transfer from methanol to lignin, resulting in essentially complete conversion to organic liquids without detectable char formation. However, even more hydrogen is consumed/wasted in extensive aromatic hydrogenation, which reduces the fuel value and increases the cost. Kinetic and mechanistic studies identified Brønsted acidic phenol derivatives as the principal reaction components susceptible to catalytic hydrogenation, while the corresponding methyl ethers are considerably more resistant. These findings inspired several new catalyst designs to suppress hydrogenation. They include reducing the basicity of the support, increasing the hydrogenolysis activity (and thereby reducing the residence time) by incorporation of nickel, and reducing the metal particle size to decrease the ensemble size. In combination, these strategies can effectively eliminate the excess consumption of hydrogen.

Catalyst design for liquid fuels from lignin: Hydrogenolysis without hydrogenation

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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