Novel bimetallic dispersed catalysts for temperature-programmed coal liquefaction. Technical progress report, April--June 1995

Coal liquefaction involves cleavage of methylene, dimethylene and ether bridges connecting polycyclic aromatic units and the reactions of various oxygen functional groups. Here in this quarterly, we report on our continued effort on hydrodeoxygenation of O-containing polycyclic model compounds using novel organometallic catalyst precursors. Compounds containing oxygen functional groups, especially phenols, are undesirable components of coal-derived liquids. Removal of these compounds from the products of coal liquefaction is required. A beneficial alternative would be the removal of these compounds, or the prevention of their formation, during the liquefaction reaction itself, rather than as a separate processing step. A novel organometallic catalyst precursor containing Co and Mo has been studied as a potential hydrogenation catalyst for coal liquefaction. To ascertain the hydrodeoxygenation activity of this catalyst under liquefaction conditions, model compounds were investigated. Anthrone, 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-methyl-phenol, dinaphthyl ether, and xanthene were reacted in the presence of the Co-Mo catalyst precursor and a precursor containing only Mo over a range of temperatures, providing a comparison of conversions to deoxygenated products. These conversions give an indication of the hydrodeoxygenating abilities of organometallic catalyst precursors within a coal liquefaction system. For example, at 400{degrees}C dinaphthylether was converted 100% (4.5% O-containing products) in the presence of the Co-Mo organometallic precursor, compared to 76.5% conversion (7.4% O-products) in the presence of the Mo catalyst