Abstract
Copper ferrites dopped with molybdenum were studied in an oxidative coupling reaction between methanol and ethanol in the gas phase. The catalysts have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, where the presence of ferrite, magnetite, and tenorite phases was observed; scanning electron microscopy; UV-Vis spectroscopy; and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, which highlighted the presence of octahedral coordination of isolated molybdena species. The catalyst with the highest activity in this reaction and with the highest selectivity to hydroxyacetone is the one that presents Lewis sites with weak acidity. The methyl and ethyl acetate selectivities are directly proportional to the Cu/Fe ratio. It has been observed that the presence of reduced copper sites is responsible for the selectivity in esters, while the presence of reduced iron and molybdenum sites is responsible for the acetol production.
Highlights
Catalytic transformation of methanol and ethanol in products with higher added value has become more and more interesting due to their renewable characteristics
Our studies showed that the oxidative coupling and cross-acyloin condensation of methanol and
Our studies showed thatwith the oxidative coupling and cross-acyloin condensation of methanol by the copper ferrites dopped molybdenum
Summary
Catalytic transformation of methanol and ethanol in products with higher added value has become more and more interesting due to their renewable characteristics. The condensation in the gas phase is a complex process which involves alcohol dehydrogenation (or oxidation) to aldehyde, aldol condensation, coupling reactions [1]. A mixture of methanol and ethanol was used in the “Guebert” reaction in order to obtain superior alcohols (1-propanol, 1-butanol) [2]. The acyloin condensation is an interesting method which involves C–C bond formation and consists of an intermolecular condensation of two molecules of aldehydes; the main product of this reaction is a α-hydroxy ketone [3]. The reaction takes place in the presence of basic catalysts
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