Many important reactions for converting biomass-derived oxygenates into fuels and chemicals occur in the condensed phase. A key feature to these reactions is the impact of the identity of the liquid phase on not only the activity of the catalyst but also the selectivity to desired reaction products. In this presentation, we will highlight some of our recent efforts to disentangle how the nature of the condensed phase impacts catalytic reaction rates for several representative reactions in biomass conversion. In one example, we show that, for the case of biomolecular Fisher esterification there is a substantial impact of solvent polarity on the reaction kinetics, with the reaction shifting from apparent first- to zero-order when the solvent is changed from toluene to THF. In another example, we observe changes in the rate of liquid-phase phenol hydrogenation that depend on solvent composition, both in terms of the identity of the organic solvent and water content in that solvent. We illustrate how to rationalize these observations by combining a thermodynamically rigorous application of transition state theory with molecular insight from quantum chemical calculations.

Effects of solvation on catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived oxygenates

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ACS Fall 2022

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