Hydrotreating of m-cresol: A lignin derived phenolic compound, using ruthenium decorated zeolite-β

Abstract

5 wt% ruthenium-loaded Zeolite-β is found to be efficient for hydrotreating the lignin model compound, m-cresol, at 170 °C under 10 bar hydrogen pressure to give methyl cyclohexane. The catalyst has a bifunctional nature in which the redox properties of ruthenium and the strong acidic nature of Zeolite-β are instrumental in the hydrotreating of m-cresol. The well-dispersed metallic ruthenium on Zeolite-β, as evident from TEM and EDS mapping analysis, is responsible for the potential activity. The activity was retained even after six cycles and was also found to have potential for hydrotreating various other functional substrates.