(671d) Lattice Distorted Mnco Oxide Materials As Efficient Catalysts for Transfer Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid Using Formic Acid As H-Donor
AIChE Annual Meeting
2020
2020 Virtual AIChE Annual Meeting
Sustainable Engineering Forum
Chemical and Catalytic Conversions and Processes for Renewable Feedstocks
Tuesday, November 17, 2020 - 8:45am to 9:00am
Levulinic acid (LA) is a promising platform molecule produced from the hydrolysis of cellulose. It exhibits great potential for the production of various downstream chemicals, which involves LA hydrogenation to γ-valerolactone (GVL) as the key step. CTH of LA using H-donors represents one of the most sustainable routes compared to conventional hydrogenation [3]. It is known that inexpensive Mn- and Co-based materials have yet to be reported for CTH of LA using formic acid (FA) as H-donor [4].
In this work, we first proposed unique MnCo oxide catalysts for conversion of LA to GVL in FA aqueous medium, which show enhanced stability and activity (80% LA conversion and 80% GVL selectivity, reused at least 5 times). The key finding is that, lattice distortion of MnCo oxides induces electronically coupled MnCoO3 phase at MnOx-CoOx interface leading to catalytic performance enhancement [5]. Kinetic analysis confirms an induction period of LA conversion. There exists competitive reactions between LA activation and FA decomposition on catalyst surface. H species accumulated on MnCo catalyst surface are activated first and then react with LA to generate GVL without external H2.