Hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to ethylene glycol on a Cu/SiO2/cordierite monolithic catalyst: Enhanced internal mass transfer and stability

Dealuminated Beta zeolite reverses Ostwald ripening for durable copper nanoparticle catalysts

Copper nanoparticle-based catalysts have been extensively applied in industry, but the nanoparticles tend to sinter into larger ones in the chemical atmospheres, which is detrimental to catalyst performance. In this work, we used dealuminated Beta zeolite to support copper nanoparticles (Cu/Beta-deAl) and showed that these particles become smaller in methanol vapor at 200°C, decreasing from ~5.6 to ~2.4 nanometers in diameter, which is opposite to the general sintering phenomenon. A reverse ripening process was discovered, whereby migratable copper sites activated by methanol were trapped by silanol nests and the copper species in the nests acted as new nucleation sites for the formation of small nanoparticles. This feature reversed the general sintering channel, resulting in robust catalysts for dimethyl oxalate hydrogenation performed with supported copper nanoparticles for use in industry.

Scalable synthesis of Cu clusters for remarkable selectivity control of intermediates in consecutive hydrogenation

Subnanometric Cu clusters that contain only a small number of atoms exhibit unique and, often, unexpected catalytic behaviors compared with Cu nanoparticles and single atoms. However, due to the high mobility of Cu species, scalable synthesis of stable Cu clusters is still a major challenge. Herein, we report a facile and practical approach for scalable synthesis of stable supported Cu cluster catalysts. This method involves the atomic diffusion of Cu from the supported Cu nanoparticles to CeO₂ at a low temperature of 200 °C to form stable Cu clusters with tailored sizes. Strikingly, these Cu clusters exhibit high yield of intermediate product (95%) in consecutive hydrogenation reactions due to their balanced adsorption of the intermediate product and dissociation of H₂. The scalable synthesis strategy reported here makes the stable Cu cluster catalysts one step closer to practical semi-hydrogenation applications.

Hydrogenation of Carboxylic Acids, Esters, and Related Compounds over Heterogeneous Catalysts: A Step toward Sustainable and Carbon-Neutral Processes

The catalytic hydrogenation of esters and carboxylic acids represents a fundamental and important class of organic transformations, which is widely applied in energy, environmental, agricultural, and pharmaceutical industries. Due to the low reactivity of the carbonyl group in carboxylic acids and esters, this type of reaction is, however, rather challenging. Hence, specifically active catalysts are required to achieve a satisfactory yield. Nevertheless, in recent years, remarkable progress has been made on the development of catalysts for this type of reaction, especially heterogeneous catalysts, which are generally dominating in industry. Here in this review, we discuss the recent breakthroughs as well as milestone achievements for the hydrogenation of industrially important carboxylic acids and esters utilizing heterogeneous catalysts. In addition, related catalytic hydrogenations that are considered of importance for the development of cleaner energy technologies and a circular chemical industry will be discussed in detail. Special attention is paid to the insights into the structure-activity relationship, which will help the readers to develop rational design strategies for the synthesis of more efficient heterogeneous catalysts.

Engineering an egg-shell structure for the Ag/SiO2 pellet catalyst for selective hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to methyl glycolate

An egg-shell-type Ag/SiO2 pellet catalyst with an optimized thickness of the Ag-shell exhibits both enhanced activity and selectivity for DMO hydrogenation to MG.

Highly selective hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to methyl glycolate and ethylene glycol over an amino-assisted Ru-based catalyst

A Ru/NH₂-MCM-41 catalyst was prepared via a coordination-assisted strategy for chemoselective hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate with a high selectivity of methyl glycolate (ca. 100%) and ethylene glycol (>90%) at reaction temperatures of 343 K and 433 K, respectively. The amino groups help to anchor and form stable electron-rich Ru active sites, which accounts for the excellent CO bond activation and hydrogenation selectivity.

Recent advances in the routes and catalysts for ethanol synthesis from syngas

Ethanol, as one of the important bulk chemicals, is widely used in modern society. It can be produced by fermentation of sugar, petroleum refining, or conversion of syngas (CO/H₂). Among these approaches, conversion of syngas to ethanol (STE) is the most environmentally friendly and economical process. Although considerable progress has been made in STE conversion, control of CO activation and C-C growth remains a great challenge. This review highlights recent advances in the routes and catalysts employed in STE technology. The catalyst designs and pathway designs are summarized and analysed for the direct and indirect STE routes, respectively. In the direct STE routes (i.e., one-step synthesis of ethanol from syngas), modified catalysts of methanol synthesis, modified catalysts of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, Mo-based catalysts, noble metal catalysts and multifunctional catalysts are systematically reviewed based on their catalyst designs. Further, in the indirect STE routes (i.e., multi-step processes for ethanol synthesis from syngas via methanol/dimethyl ether as intermediates), carbonylation of methanol/dimethyl ether followed by hydrogenation, and coupling of methanol with CO to form dimethyl oxalate followed by hydrogenation, are outlined according to their pathway designs. The goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive perspective on STE technology and inspire the invention of new catalysts and pathway designs in the near future.

Insights into a New Formation Mechanism of Robust Cu/SiO2 Catalysts for Low-Temperature Dimethyl Oxalate Hydrogenation Induced by a Chelating Ligand of EDTA

The Cu/SiO2 catalyst has been widely used in dimethyl oxalate (DMO) hydrogenation due to its low cost and high efficiency. However, the reaction temperature of DMO hydrogenation is higher than the Hüttig temperature of Cu, and the smaller Cu particles are easier to agglomerate. Therefore, there is much interest in constructing a catalyst with a small particle size and strong stability. In the present work, the effect of introducing EDTA on Cu/SiO2 catalysts is systematically investigated. It not only was beneficial to form smaller copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) but also to enhance the stability of Cu species by introducing a suitable amount of EDTA. Furthermore, the surface Cu species were more evenly dispersed, and the number of active sites was increased with the introduction of EDTA; subsequently, the synergistic effect between Cu+ and Cu0 was enhanced. The best performance of 0.08E-Cu/SiO2 had been achieved in the DMO hydrogenation to ethylene glycol (EG), and the DMO conversion and EG selectivity reached 99.9% and 97.7%, respectively. Above all, the 0.08E-Cu/SiO2 catalyst exhibited a high level of stability during the 1200 h life test at 180 °C.

Stable Cu Catalysts Supported by Two-dimensional SiO2 with Strong Metal-Support Interaction

Cu-based catalysts exhibit excellent performance in hydrogenation reactions. However, the poor stability of Cu catalysts under high temperatures has restricted their practical applications. The preparation of stable Cu catalysts supported by SiO₂ with strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) has thus aroused great interest due to the high abundance, low toxicity, feasible processability, and low cost of SiO₂ . The challenge in the construction of such SMSI remains to be the inertness of SiO₂ . Herein, a simple and scalable method is developed to prepare 2D silica (2DSiO₂ ) supported Cu catalysts with SMSI by carefully manipulating the topological exfoliation of CaSi₂ with CuCl₂ and thereafter calcination. The prepared Cu-2DSiO₂ catalysts with the unique encapsulated Cu nanoparticles exhibit excellent activity and long-term stability in high-temperature CO₂ hydrogenation reactions. This feasible and low-cost solution for stabilizing Cu catalysts might shed light on their realistic applications.

Copper Phyllosilicates-Derived Catalysts in the Production of Alcohols from Hydrogenation of Carboxylates, Carboxylic Acids, Carbonates, Formyls, and CO2: A Review

Copper phyllosilicates-derived catalysts (CuPS-cats) have been intensively explored in the past two decades due to their promising activity in carbonyls hydrogenation. However, CuPS-cats have not been completely reviewed. This paper focuses on the aspects concerning CuPS-cats from synthesis methods, effects of preparation conditions, and dopant to catalytic applications of CuPS-cats. The applications of CuPS-cats include the hydrogenation of carboxylates, carboxylic acids, carbonates, formyls, and CO2 to their respective alcohols. Besides, important factors such as the Cu dispersion, Cu+ and Cu0 surface areas, particles size, interaction between Cu and supports and dopants, morphologies, and spatial effect on catalytic performance of CuPS-cats are discussed. The deactivation and remedial actions to improve the stability of CuPS-cats are summarized. It ends up with the challenges and prospective by using this type of catalyst.

Influence of La-doping on the CuO/ZrO2 catalysts with different Cu contents for hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to ethylene glycol

The introduction of La2O3 into CuO/ZrO2 affects both the distribution of Cu species and the crystal growth of zirconia, hence increasing DMO conversion.

Tuning the Cu+ species of Cu-based catalysts for direct synthesis of ethanol from syngas

(1) Controllable Cu+–Cu0 sites were obtained by synthesizing xCu/yCuPS catalysts. (2) The outstanding catalytic activity was attributed to the balanced Cu+/(Cu+ + Cu0) (about 0.62). (3) The apparent catalytic activity was strongly related to Cu+.

Enhanced Ethylene Glycol Selectivity of CuO-La2O3/ZrO2 Catalyst: The Role of Calcination Temperatures

The CuO-La₂O₃/ZrO₂ catalysts calcined at different temperatures from 500 to 800 °C were studied for the hydrogenation of oxalates to ethylene glycol (EG). Along with the increase of calcination temperatures, the BET surface area, pore volume, and Cu dispersion decreased, whereas the crystallite sizes of Cu species increased. Interestingly, the superior performance such as a 98% selectivity of EG in dimethyl oxalate hydrogenation or a 96.5% selectivity of EG in diethyl oxalate hydrogenation was obtained over the catalyst calcined at 700 °C. Essentially, the surface synergism between Cu species and monoclinic ZrO₂ was enhanced by the higher calcination temperature, resulting in the remarkable surface adsorption and activation of H₂. Besides, the increase of calcination temperature significantly reduced the surface acidity and basicity, which could effectively suppress the byproduct formation.

CO direct esterification to dimethyl oxalate and dimethyl carbonate: the key functional motifs for catalytic selectivity

The direct esterification of CO involves processes using CO as the starting material and ester chemicals as products. Dimethyl oxalate (DMO) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) are two different products of the direct CO esterification reaction. However, the effective control of the reaction pathway and direct synthesis of DMO and DMC are challenging. In this review, we summarize the recent research progress on the direct esterification of CO to DMO/DMC and reveal the functional motifs responsible for the catalytic selectivity. Firstly, we discuss the microstructure of catalysts for the direct esterification of CO to DMO and DMC, including the valence state and the aggregate state of Pd. Then, the influence of characteristics of the support on the selectivity is analyzed. Importantly, the aggregate state of the active component, Pd is deemed as a vital functional motif for catalytic selectivity. The isolated Pd is conducive for the formation of DMC, while the aggregated Pd is beneficial for the formation of DMO. This review will provide rational guidance for the direct esterification of CO to DMO and DMC.

Transition metal-like carbocatalyst

Catalytic cleavage of strong bonds including hydrogen-hydrogen, carbon-oxygen, and carbon-hydrogen bonds is a highly desired yet challenging fundamental transformation for the production of chemicals and fuels. Transition metal-containing catalysts are employed, although accompanied with poor selectivity in hydrotreatment. Here we report metal-free nitrogen-assembly carbons (NACs) with closely-placed graphitic nitrogen as active sites, achieving dihydrogen dissociation and subsequent transformation of oxygenates. NACs exhibit high selectivity towards alkylarenes for hydrogenolysis of aryl ethers as model bio-oxygenates without over-hydrogeneration of arenes. Activities originate from cooperating graphitic nitrogen dopants induced by the diamine precursors, as demonstrated in mechanistic and computational studies. We further show that the NAC catalyst is versatile for dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene and tetrahydroquinoline as well as for hydrogenation of common unsaturated functionalities, including ketone, alkene, alkyne, and nitro groups. The discovery of nitrogen assembly as active sites can open up broad opportunities for rational design of new metal-free catalysts for challenging chemical reactions.

Metal-free catalysts can offer uniquely different activity and selectivity from transition metal-based counterparts. Here, the authors report metal-free nitrogen-assembly carbon with closely-placed nitrogen as active sites, achieving catalytic cleavage of strong bonds including H-H, C-O and C-H.

Desorption-dominated synthesis of CuO/SBA-15 with tunable particle size and loading in supercritical CO2

Here, we present a novel method to control the size of CuO nanoparticles (NPs) and Cu loading in SBA-15 via fast desorption of supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂). After calcination, the average size of the CuO NPs (6.47 ± 2.89∼2.18 ± 0.97 nm) decreased with the increase of the depressurization rate (20-14 MPa, 50 °C) from transmission electron microscopy, and the x-ray diffraction results also indicated the decrement of the average particle size (8.6∼4.3 nm by a Scherrer equation). Two reduction peaks situated at 195 °C and 220 °C were found from the temperature-programmed reductions with H₂ profiles, and the intensity of the low-temperature peak increased with increasing the rate for a profile. The hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate (DMO) to ethylene glycol (EG) was selected to evaluate the catalytic activity of the as-prepared sample. The reaction was conducted at p = 3.0 MPa, T = 200 °C, H₂/DMO = 120, the weight hourly space velocity  = 1.2 h^-1, and the EG selectivity remained at about 90% for over 100 h. The fast desorption of scCO₂ caused mechanical perturbations and crystallization of the adsorbed salt ions on the supports, decreasing the particle size and increasing Cu loading (8∼12 wt%).

A boron-doped carbon aerogel-supported Cu catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate

The modification of B in carbon support can modulate the hydrogenation selectivity.

Nanoporous Ni3P Evolutionarily Structured onto a Ni Foam for Highly Selective Hydrogenation of Dimethyl Oxalate to Methyl Glycolate

Methyl glycolate (MG) is a versatile platform molecule to produce numerous important chemicals and materials, especially new-generation biocompatible and biodegradable poly(glycolic acid). In principle, it can be massively produced from syngas (CO + H₂) via gas-phase hydrogenation of CO-derived dimethyl oxalate (DMO), but the groundbreaking catalyst represents a grand challenge. Here, we report the discovery of a Ni-foam-structured nanoporous Ni₃P catalyst, evolutionarily transformed from a Ni₂P/Ni-foam engineered from nano- to macro-scale, being capable of nearly fully converting DMO into MG at >95% selectivity and stable for at least 1000 h without any sign of deactivation. As revealed by kinetic experiments and theoretical calculations, in comparison with Ni₂P, Ni₃P achieves a higher surface electron density that is favorable for MG adsorption in a molecular manner rather than in a dissociative manner and has much higher activation energy for MG hydrogenation to ethylene glycol (EG), thereby markedly suppressing its overhydrogenation to EG.

Status and prospects in higher alcohols synthesis from syngas

Higher alcohols are important compounds with widespread applications in the chemical, pharmaceutical and energy sectors. Currently, they are mainly produced by sugar fermentation (ethanol and isobutanol) or hydration of petroleum-derived alkenes (heavier alcohols), but their direct synthesis from syngas (CO + H₂) would comprise a more environmentally-friendly, versatile and economical alternative. Research efforts in this reaction, initiated in the 1930s, have fluctuated along with the oil price and have considerably increased in the last decade due to the interest to exploit shale gas and renewable resources to obtain the gaseous feedstock. Nevertheless, no catalytic system reported to date has performed sufficiently well to justify an industrial implementation. Since the design of an efficient catalyst would strongly benefit from the establishment of synthesis-structure-function relationships and a deeper understanding of the reaction mechanism, this review comprehensively overviews syngas-based higher alcohols synthesis in three main sections, highlighting the advances recently made and the challenges that remain open and stimulate upcoming research activities. The first part critically summarises the formulations and methods applied in the preparation of the four main classes of materials, i.e., Rh-based, Mo-based, modified Fischer-Tropsch and modified methanol synthesis catalysts. The second overviews the molecular-level insights derived from microkinetic and theoretical studies, drawing links to the mechanisms of Fischer-Tropsch and methanol syntheses. Finally, concepts proposed to improve the efficiency of reactors and separation units as well as to utilise CO₂ and recycle side-products in the process are described in the third section.

The effect of potassium on Cu/Al2O3 catalysts for the hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan in a fixed-bed reactor

The highly efficient selective hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) was achieved in a fixed-bed reactor by using inexpensive potassium-doped Cu/Al₂O₃ catalysts.

Recent progress in improving the stability of copper-based catalysts for hydrogenation of carbon–oxygen bonds

Five different strategies to enhance the stability of Cu-based catalysts for hydrogenation of C–O bonds are summarized in this review.

Probing the promotional roles of cerium in the structure and performance of Cu/SiO2 catalysts for ethanol production

Ce promoted Cu/SiO₂ catalysts prepared by a urea-assisted gelation approach exhibited excellent catalytic activity and stability for DMO hydrogenation to ethanol.