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Vapour phase hydrogenolysis of biomass‐derived diethyl succinate to tetrahydrofuran over CuOZnO/solid acid bifunctional catalysts
Author(s) -
Ding Guoqiang,
Zhu Yulei,
Zheng Hongyan,
Chen Hongmei,
Li Yongwang
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.2503
Subject(s) - tetrahydrofuran , hydrogenolysis , succinic acid , diethyl ether , catalysis , selectivity , chemistry , succinic anhydride , organic chemistry , solvent
BACKGROUND: Catalytic upgrading of fermentation‐derived succinic acid or its derivates (succinic acid esters and succinic anhydride) to value added chemicals has received great attention recently. The aim of this work is to provide a process for the production of tetrahydrofuran from succinic acid esters. RESULTS: The hydrogenolysis of biomass‐derived diethyl succinate was investigated over CuOZnO and CuOZnO/solid acid (HY, HZSM‐5, SAPO‐11 and Al 2 O 3 ) catalysts in a fixed‐bed reactor. Over CuOZnO, gamma ‐butyrolactone and 1,4‐butanediol can be selectively produced under appropriate reaction conditions, while the selectivity of tetrahydrofuran is relatively low due to the weak acidity of CuOZnO. Over CuOZnO/HZSM, both the formed 1,4‐butanediol and ethanol can be further converted to tetrahydrofuran and diethyl ether, while tetrahydrofuran is selectively produced over CuOZnO/HY. CuOZnO/Al 2 O 3 and CuOZnO/SAPO exhibit slight improvements in terms of selectivity to tetrahydrofuran when compared with CuOZnO. CONCLUSION: CuOZnO/HY is an appropriate catalyst to produce tetrahydrofuran from biomass‐derived diethyl succinate with high activity, selectivity and stability. Furthermore, Brønsted acid sites with appropriate acid strength are responsible for the selective formation of tetrahydrofuran under the applied reaction conditions. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry