Hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to ethylene glycol over mesoporous Cu‐MCM‐41 catalysts

Abstract

The synthesis and utilization of mesoporous Cu‐MCM‐41 catalysts for hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to ethylene glycol is described in this article. Physicochemical properties of these Cu‐MCM‐41 catalysts have been investigated by N2‐physisorption, X‐ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma, N2O titration, transmission electron microscopy, temperature programmed reduction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the copper loading significantly influenced the pore structure and copper surface area of the catalyst. High catalytic performance is obtained over a 20Cu‐MCM‐41 catalyst with a full DMO conversion and EG yield of 92% at a LHSV of 3.0 h−1. The catalytic performance of optimized 20Cu‐MCM‐41 catalyst could be attributed to the fine copper dispersion and large copper surface areas. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 2530–2539, 2013