Synthesis of jet fuel intermediates via aldol condensation of biomass-derived furfural with lanthanide catalyst

Abstract

Jet fuel precursors (4-(2-furyl)-3-buten-2-one (FAc) and 1,5-di-2-furanyl-1,4-pentadien-3-one (F2Ac)) can be produced from aldol condensation between furfural and acetone over basic catalysts. However, there is still a need to develop efficient alkaline catalysts and understand the role of alkaline sites. In this work, La2O2CO3-Al2O3 catalyst was successfully prepared by coprecipitation and the effect of preparation conditions on the properties and catalytic performance was investigated. Experiments showed that La2O2CO3 and La2O3 were formed after calcination, and the activity was greatly improved by the introduction of La2O2CO3. At higher coprecipitation pH, rod-shaped La2O2CO3 was formed, which exhibits higher exposure of basic La3+-O2− sites and shows good performance in aldol condensation reactions. The catalytic performance of La2O2CO3-Al2O3 in aldol condensation of furfural with acetone was also evaluated and compared with that of Al2O3, La2O3, La2O3-Al2O3, La(OH)₃/Al2O3 and La2O2CO3/Al2O3. A total conversion of furfural can be realized with F2Ac yield of 67.8% at a furfural/acetone ratio of 1/1 and 90 °C, with a FAc yield of 25.8% at the same time. The deactivation mechanism of the La2O2CO3-Al2O3 catalyst was also studied.