Efficient hydrogenolysis of fructose to 1,2-propanediol over bifunctional Ru-WO_(x)-MgO_(y) catalysts under mild reaction conditions via enhancing the chemoselective cleavage of C-C bonds

Selective conversion of fructose to 1,2-propanediol(1,2-PDO)is considered as a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to petroleum-based processes,however,this approach still faces challenges associated with low efficiency and harsh reaction conditions.Here,we have successfully synthesized a novel bifunctional Ru-WO_(x)-MgO_(y) catalyst through a facile'one-pot'solvothermal method.Remarkably,this catalyst exhibits exceptional catalytic performances in the conversion of fructose to 1,2-PDO under mild reaction conditions.The yield of 1,2-PDO is up to 56.2%at 140°C for 4 h under an ultra-low hydrogen pressure of only 0.2 MPa,surpassing the reported results in recent literature(below 51%).Comprehensive characterizations and density functional theory(DFT)calculations reveal that the presence of oxygen vacancies in the Ru-WO_(x)-MgO_(y) catalyst,serving as active acidic sites,facilitates the chemoselective cleavage of C-C bonds in fructose,which leads to the generation of active intermediates and ultimately resulted in the high yield of 1,2-PDO.

Catalytic hydrotreatment of humins into cyclic hydrocarbons over solid acid supported metal catalysts in cyclohexane

Humins are common undesirable sideproducts during many acid-catalyzed reactions in renewable biomass platform conversion. However, few studies have been reported to the efficient utilization of humins.For the first time, the selective catalytic conversion of biomass-derived humins into cyclic hydrocarbons with high conversion rate and selectivity is presented using a home-made Ru/W-P-Si-O bifunctional catalyst. The multistage polymerization structure of humins was studied through controlled experiments.Results show that the CAC bond network can be efficiently depolymerized at a mild reaction temperature of 340–380 °C, catalyzed by the cooperative catalysis of nano-Ru particles and porous strong Lewis solid acid. Particularly, 95.4% conversion of humins was achieved under the optimal condition with up to 88.3%yield of cyclic hydrocarbons. The detailed composition after liquefaction was also analyzed. This study paves the way for the efficient production of cyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons from furan-derived humin polymer through Lewis acid-catalyzed Diels–Alder reactions between furan rings.