Fast and Highly Selective Continuous-Flow Catalytic Hydrogenation of a Cafestol–Kahweol Mixture Obtained from Green Coffee Beans

This work investigates batch and continuous-flow heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation of a mixture of cafestol and kahweol (C&K) to obtain pure cafestol. These diterpenes were extracted from green coffee beans, and hydrogenation was performed using well-established palladium catalysts (Pd/C, Pd/CaCO 3 , Pd/BaSO 4 , and Pd/Al 2 O 3 ) and a carbon black-supported Pd catalyst coated by a covalently tethered SiO 2 shell with mesoporous texture (Pd/CB@SiO 2 ), all partially deactivated with quinoline. Pd/C 10% poisoned with 1 wt % quinoline gave the best result for batch reaction, producing cafestol from kahweol with high selectivity (>99%) after 10 min. Excellent selectivity was also obtained with the catalyst Pd/CB@SiO 2 with only 1% Pd. In addition, Pd/C-quinoline adapted for continuous-flow experiments exhibited the best catalytic activity, also providing cafestol with excellent selectivity (>99%) after 9.8 s.