Lignocellulosic (non-food) biomass is a renewable source of liquid fuels. Among the renewable energy technologies (e.g. wind, solar, hydrogen), biomass is the only technology that can provide carbon-containing products simultaneously with fuels. This is analogous to petrochemical refining. Our research focuses on lignin, the only naturally occurring aromatic polymer. Current isolation techniques either substantially degrade its structure or require dangerous and expensive hydrogen gas to afford aromatic platform chemicals. We hypothesize that catalytic transfer hydrogenolysis using ethanol and mixed-metal oxide catalysts will sustainably afford aromatic small molecules useful as platform chemicals. We have investigated mixtures of first-row transition metal oxides (Fe, Co, and Ni) for their efficacy at mediating transfer hydrogenolysis of acetophenone in ethanol. We will present results pertaining to the characterization of these catalysts as well as their catalytic activity. We will demonstrate that the selectivity among transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone to 1-phenylethanol, ethylbenzene, and styrene can be controlled by changing the ratios of constituent metals. This technology would be useful for valorization of whole biomass from hardwoods and agricultural crops, two industries important to the economy in Pennsylvania, as well as isolated lignin from existing technologies such as chemical pulping. Accordingly, some preliminary results for catalytic reactivity on lignin and whole biomass will also be presented.

Catalytic transfer hydrogenolysis for sustainable transformations of lignin

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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