Low temperature catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of lignin-derived phenols to cyclohexanols over the Ru/SBA-15 catalyst

• Main Authors: Feng, S. (Author), Hu, C. (Author), Li, G. (Author), Liu, X. (Author), Su, Z. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Royal Society of Chemistry 2022
• Subjects: Activation energy; Activation Energy; Active phasis; Catalyst activity; Catalyst selectivity; Chemical intermediates; Cyclohexanol; Fuel additives; Hydrodeoxygenation; Lignin; Lignin-derived phenol; Lows-temperatures; Particle size; Particle Size; Particles sizes; Phenols; Ruthenium; SBA-15 catalysts; Temperature; XRD
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Cyclohexanol and its derivatives are widely used as chemical intermediates and fuel additives. Herein, Ru/SBA-15 catalysts were prepared via impregnation, and used for the production of cyclohexanols from lignin-derived phenols. The catalyst samples were characterized by XRD, XPS, TEM, etc., where the Ru0 species was speculated as the active phase. 5 wt% Ru/SBA-15 with small Ru particle size (4.99 nm) and high Ru dispersion (27.05%) exhibited an excellent hydrogenation activity. A high cyclohexanol yield of >99.9% was achieved at 20 °C for 5 h in an aqueous phase, and the catalyst indicated stable activity and selectivity after five runs. Crucially, Ru/SBA-15 exhibited a zero-order reaction rate with an apparent activation energy (Ea) as low as 10.88 kJ mol−1 and a TON of 172.84 at 80 °C. Simultaneously, demethoxylation activity was also observed in the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of G- and S-type monophenols, and a high yield of 37.4% of cyclohexanol was obtained at 80 °C and 4 h when using eugenol as substrate. © 2022 The Royal Society of Chemistry