Hydrogenolysis of glycidol as alternative route to obtain selectively 1,3-propanediol using MOx modified Ni-Cu catalysts supported on acid mesoporous saponite

Identifier:  PC:3204

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/PC3204

Authors:  Salagre, P.; Gebretsadik, F.B.; Llorca, J; Cesteros, Y.

Abstract:
Ni and Cu mono- and bi-metallic catalysts modified with various types of acid oxides MOx (M = Mo, V, W and Re) were tested for hydrogenolysis of glycidol, as alternative route to hydrogenolysis of glycerol to obtain 1,3-propanediol. Characterization results revealed that the presence of modifiers affected dispersion and reducibility of the NiO particles, and the strength and amount of the acid sites. Among the modifiers tested, Re showed the highest activity, high propanediols selectivity and the highest 1,3-PrD/ 1,2-PrD ratio. Ni-Cu/Re ratio was optimized to improve the catalytic activity. The best catalytic result, with 46 % 1,3-PrD yield and 1,3-PrD/1,2-PrD ratio of 1.24, was obtained when monometallic Ni catalyst at 40 wt % loading and modified with 7 wt % Re was used at 393 K, 5 MPa H2 pressure after 4 h of reaction. The overall 1,3-PrD yield starting from glycerol and assuming a two-step synthesis (Glycerol  Glycidol  1,3-PrD) and a yield of 78% for the first step, would be 36 %. This 1,3-PD yield is the highest for non-noble metal catalyzed reaction and is comparable to direct hydrogenolysis of glycerol using noble metal catalysts, at longer time and high H2 pressure.