Hydrodeoxygenation of 2,5-dimethyltetrahydrofuran over bifunctional metal-acid catalyst Pt–Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40 in the gas phase: Kinetics and mechanism

Abstract

• DMTHF deoxygenated to hexane with >99% selectivity at 90–100 °C and ambient pressure. • Bifunctional Pt–CsPW catalyst much more efficient than monofunctional pt. • HDO occurs via hydrogenolysis, dehydration and hydrogenation steps on pt and H + sites. • Hydrogenolysis of furan ring on pt is a structure-sensitive reaction. Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of 2,5-dimethyltetrahydrofuran (DMTHF) was studied at a gas-solid interface in a fixed-bed microreactor in the presence of bifunctional metal-acid catalysts comprising Pt/C and acidic heteropoly salt Cs 2.5 H 0.5 PW 12 O 40 (CsPW). The Pt–CsPW catalyst deoxygenated DMTHF to n-hexane with >99% selectivity under mild conditions (90–100 °C, ambient pressure) and was much more efficient than monofunctional Pt/C. On the basis of kinetic studies, a mechanism for the HDO of DMTHF over Pt–CsPW was proposed, which includes a sequence of hydrogenolysis, dehydration and hydrogenation steps catalysed by Pt and proton sites of the bifunctional catalyst. The turnover rate of HDO increased with increasing Pt particle size suggesting that the hydrogenolysis of C–O bond in furanic compounds on Pt is a structure-sensitive reaction.