Catalytic pathways in the conversion of biomass to fuel range chemicals has been studied in this undergraduate research group. Specifically, reduction and etherification of furfural and furfuryl alcohol have been achieved in the liquid phase using supported palladium catalysts in the presence of metal chloride salts as Lewis acids. Changing the light alcohol solvent (e.g. isopropyl alcohol, n-butanol, or n-propanol) yielded ethers after the reduction of furfural to furfuryl alcohol. Percent conversion was significantly affected by the type of metal chloride and selectivity toward hydrogenation products was also affected by the metal chloride additive. Nickel chloride and ferric chloride salts yielded nearly 100% conversion of furfural to products, while salts of tin and copper were less active. The effects of solvent choice, metal additive, and pressure (1 vs 60 bar) will be described in this presentation. Catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) was achieved in a high pressure microreactor; CTH eliminates the need for molecular hydrogen in catalytic reduction processes. Reaction progress was monitored with gas chromatography / mass spectrometry. Comparisons to other related unsaturated aldehyde compounds will be presented. Results from this project will provide a better understanding of the synergism between catalysts and metal salt additives in tuning the activity and selectivity for liquid phase catalysis.

Synthesis of fuel range chemicals from biomass using catalytic pathways

255th National Meeting (2018)

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