Highly selective catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol to cyclohexane over Pt/TiO2 and NiMo/Al2O3 catalysts

Abstract

Catalysts Pt/TiO2 and NiMo/Al2O3 are highly active and selective for the hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol in a fixed bed reactor at 300 °C and 7.1 MPa, leading to the hydrogenation of aromatic ring, followed by demethylation and dehydroxylation to produce cyclohexane. For a complete hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol, metal sites and acid sites are required. NiMo/Al2O3 and Pt/Al2O3 are more active and selective for cyclohexane formation as compared with Pt/TiO2 at 285 °C and 4 MPa. However, Pt/TiO2 is stable while the other two catalysts deactivate due to the nature and amount of coke formation during the reaction.