Production of liquid fuel intermediates from furfural via aldol condensation over La2O2CO3-ZnO-Al2O3 catalyst
Recently, master student Mr. Xiao-jie Wei supervised by Dr. Xiao Kong and Prof. Zhen Fang published a research article in Catalysis Communications about Production of liquid fuel intermediates from furfural.
Aldol condensation of furfural with acetone over basic catalysts allows the production of furanic adducts 4-(2-furyl)-3-buten-2-one (FAc, C8) and 1,5-di-2-furanyl-1,4-pentadien-3-one (F2Ac, C13)) that can be transformed into high-quality diesel fuels by further hydrogenation. However, the development of efficient basic catalysts and understanding of role of basic sites with different strength are still required. In this work, monoclinic and hexagonal La2O2CO3 promoted ZnO-Al2O3 catalysts were synthesized with higher concentration of medium strength basic sites and better catalytic performance as compared with La2O3 and ZnO-Al2O3. This work demonstrated that the medium strength basic sites were especially active for aldol condensation reactions.
Related results were published:
X Kong, XJ Wei, Zhe Fang*, LP Li, and HW Lei, Production of Liquid Fuel Intermediates from Furfural via Aldol Condensation over La2O2CO3-ZnO-Al2O3 Catalyst, Catalysis Communications, 149, 106207 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catcom.2020.106207.
Reaction route for aldol condensation of furfural and acetone（糠醛与丙酮的醛醇缩合反应路线）
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La2O2CO3-ZnO-Al2O3催化醛醇缩合糠醛生产液体燃料中间体
最近，孔晓博士和硕士生魏孝捷在方老师的指导下，在国际学术期刊Catalysis Communications（IF3.6，Q2）发表以糠醛为原料通过醛醇缩合以制备液体燃料中间体的研究性论文。
在碱性催化剂上糠醛与丙酮的醛醇缩合反应可制得呋喃加合物4-（2-呋喃基）-3-丁烯-2-酮（FAc，C8）和1,5-二-2-呋喃基-1,4- 戊二烯-3-酮（F2Ac，C13），可通过进一步加氢转化为优质柴油燃料。 但是，仍然需要开发有效的碱性催化剂并了解具有不同强度的碱性位点的作用。 在这项工作中，与La2O3和ZnO-Al2O3相比，合成了单斜晶和六角形La2O2CO3促进的ZnO-Al2O3催化剂，具有较高浓度的中等强度碱性位点和更好的催化性能。 这项工作表明中等强度的碱性位点对于醛醇缩合反应特别活跃。并为从农作物秸秆（其中的半纤维素可水解和脱水生产糠醛，纤维素可水解为糖再发酵为丙酮）制备液体燃料提供了可行的化学转化方案。
详情可见：
X Kong, XJ Wei, Zhe Fang*, LP Li, and HW Lei, Production of Liquid Fuel Intermediates from Furfural via Aldol Condensation over La2O2CO3-ZnO-Al2O3 Catalyst, Catalysis Communications, 149, 106207 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catcom.2020.106207.
