1,6-hexanediol (HDO) is a high value commodity chemical ($4,400/ton) used as a polyester or polyurethane component traditionally produced from adipic acid. In this presentation we discuss a three step catalytic route to produce HDO from cellulose1 that includes: i) hydrolysis/dehydration of cellulose into LGO and HMF with sulfuric acid 2, ii) hydrogenation/hydrogenolysis of LGO and HMF into THFDM over Pd/Si-Al2O33 and iii) hydrogenolysis of THFDM into HDO over Pt-WOx/TiO2 catalyst.4 The overall HDO yield is 50%. We demonstrate that cellulose-derived tetrahydrofuran-dimethanol. (THFDM) can be converted over Pt-WOx/TiO2 catalysts to 1,6-hexanediol (1,6-HDO) with up to 70% yield. This reaction involves ring-opening of THFDM to 1,2,6-hexanetriol (HTO) and then hydrogenolysis of HTO to 1,6-HDO. Hydrogen atoms spill over from Pt sites onto WOx/TiO2 to reduce the W=O functional group and create Brønsted acid sites. Similar catalytic activity for THFDM conversion can be been obtained with a physical mixture of Pt/TiO2 and WOx/TiO2 due to hydrogen spillover over spatially separate Pt and WOx when a reducible support (TiO2) is used.

1,6-Hexanediol synthesis from cellulose

2019 Spring National Meeting

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