Due to the recent expansion of the biodiesel industry; its main waste material, glycerol, is in abundant supply.  Recently there have been many efforts focused on the transformation of glycerol into value added chemicals, including dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and lactic acid (LA).  Lactic acid is a platform chemical in many chemical industries, including polymers, commodity chemicals, household chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.  The current methods for synthesizing LA from glycerol require harsh reaction conditions such as high base, high temperature, and long reaction times.  In this work we show that by combining highly soluble iridium and ruthenium homogenous catalysts with tunable clays (hydrotalcites) to form single site heterogeneous catalyst (SSHCs) we can achieve unprecedentedly high turnovers and turnover frequency. The support also has a distinct electronic effect on the SSHC, which can be tuned to optimize activity and lifetime, while increasing catalyst activity in relation to the homogeneous analogues. Catalyst and condition optimizations, as well as mechanistic investigations into degradation pathways and catalyst recyclability will be discusses.

Acceptorless dehydrogenation of glycerol by single-site heterogeneous catalysis

254th National Meeting (2017)

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