New methyl formate synthesis method:Coal to methyl formate

Methyl formate is one of the most important intermediates in C1 chemistry, which has been employed in a wide range of industrial applications. Current synthesis methods for methyl formate mainly include esterification of methanol and formic acid, liquid-phase methanol carbonylation, oxidative dehydrogenation of methanol, one-step syngas synthesis, and carbon dioxide hydrogenation and condensation with methanol, Liquid-phase methanol carbonylation is currently a main commercially viable process devel- oped by BASF Corp, for the industrial production of methyl formate. Recently, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new synthesis method to con- vert coal to methyl formate （denoted as CTMF）, Different from the liquid-phase methanol carbonylation using homogeneous catalysts, CTMF method features with vapor-phase methanol carbonylation using het- erogeneous nanocatalysts, which can effectively utilize the coal-based syngas and produce value-added fine chemicals （i.e., methyl formate）. The newly developed method not only provides a new methyl for- mate synthesis technology but also contributes to the development of strategies for synthesizing valuable chemicals from coal. In this review, we firstly provide introduction on the development of existing methyl formate synthesis methods and then highlight the research progress of CTMF method. Finally, a perspec- tive on the future of CTMF is given,

In situ structural evolution of BiOCOOH nanowires and their performance towards electrocatalytic CO_(2)reduction

Bismuth-based materials have attracted broad research interest as catalysts for electrocatalytic CO_(2)reduction(ECR)to formate in recent years.Most studies have been focused on exploring materials with high activity,selectivity,durability,while little attention has been paid to the catalysts structure stability especially under working conditions of CO_(2)electrolysis.Here,starting from the precursor of bismuth oxide formate nanowires(BiOCOOH NWs),it was found that BiOCOOH NWs were easy to electrochemically evolve into two-dimensional sheet structure in CO_(2)-saturated KHCO3 solution and would further reconstitute into larger ultrathin bismuth nanosheets covered with amorphous oxide thin layer(Bi/BiO_(x)NSs).However,in Ar-saturated HCOONa solution,the one-dimensional structure could be maintained and reconstructed into rough porous bismuth nanowires(Bi NWs).Bi NWs showed less stability during ECR,which also generated surface amorphous oxide layer and further fragmentated into nanoparticles or nanosheets.Bi/BiO_(x)NSs showed better activity,selectivity,stability than Bi NWs,thanks to the high exposing active sites,enhancing CO_(2)adsorption and charge transfer.The demonstrated electrolyte dependence of structure evolution for bismuth-based catalysts and their performance for CO_(2)electroreduction could provide guidance for the design and synthesis of efficient catalysts.

New Catalysts for Coal to Ethylene Glycol

Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences has achieved the industri- alization of the first generation catalysts for coal to ethylene glycol for the first time in 2009. However, there are still lots of aspects to be improved, such as high noble metal loading and toxic Cr in catalyst of ester hydrogenation. To improve the catalysts, we have done systematic deep research about the nanostructures of catalysts, and revealed facet effect, size effect, synergistic effect, support effect, and so on. A series of catalysts preparation technologies have been developed to achieve the efficient utilization of noble metals. The Pd loadings of dehydrogenation cata- lyst and CO oxidative coupling catalyst have been dropped from 2.5% to 0.9% and 2.0% to 0.13%, respectively, while the catalytic performances are enhanced greatly. The toxic Cu-Cr in ester hydrogenation catalyst has been up- graded to green Cu-Si. The new catalysts for coal to ethylene glycol with advancement have been successfully de- veloped with independent intellectual property rights.