Clean protocol for deoxygenation of epoxides to alkenes via catalytic hydrogenation using gold

Au NP catalyst combined with triethylphosphite, P(OEt)3, is remarkably more reactive than solely Au NPs for the selective deoxygenation of epoxides to alkenes.

Continuous selective deoxygenation of palm oil for renewable diesel production over Ni catalysts supported on Al2O3 and La2O3–Al2O3

Highly selective and stable Ni supported on La2O3–Al2O3 catalyst on the deCO/deCO2 reaction paths for the production of renewable diesel.

Homogeneous Palladium-Catalyzed Selective Reduction of 2,2’-Biphenols Using HCO2H as Hydrogen Source

An efficient homogeneous palladium-catalyzed selective deoxygenation of 2,2’-biphenols by reduction of aryl triflates with HCO2H as the hydrogen source is reported. This protocol complements the current method based on heterogeneous Pd/C-catalyzed hydrogenation with hydrogen gas. This process provided the reduction products in good to excellent yields, which could be readily converted to various synthetically useful molecules, especially ligands for catalytic synthesis.

Green Diesel Production over Nickel-Alumina Nanostructured Catalysts Promoted by Copper

A series of nickel–alumina catalysts promoted by copper containing 1, 2, and 5 wt. % Cu and 59, 58, and 55 wt. % Ni, respectively, (symbols: 59Ni1CuAl, 58Ni2CuAl, 55Ni5CuAl) and a non-promoted catalyst containing 60 wt. % Ni (symbol: 60NiAl) were prepared following a one-step co-precipitation method. They were characterized using various techniques (N2 sorption isotherms, XRD, SEM-EDX, XPS, H2-TPR, NH3-TPD) and evaluated in the selective deoxygenation of sunflower oil using a semi-batch reactor (310 °C, 40 bar of hydrogen, 96 mL/min hydrogen flow rate, and 100 mL/1 g reactant to catalyst ratio). The severe control of the co-precipitation procedure and the direct reduction (without previous calcination) of precursor samples resulted in mesoporous nano-structured catalysts (most of the pores in the range 3–5 nm) exhibiting a high surface area (192–285 m2 g−1). The promoting action of copper is demonstrated for the first time for catalysts with a very small Cu/Ni weight ratio (0.02–0.09). The effect is more pronounced in the catalyst with the medium copper content (58Ni2CuAl) where a 17.2% increase of green diesel content in the liquid products has been achieved with respect to the non-promoted catalyst. The copper promoting action was attributed to the increase in the nickel dispersion as well as to the formation of a Ni-Cu alloy being very rich in nickel. A portion of the Ni-Cu alloy nanoparticles is covered by Ni0 and Cu0 nanoparticles in the 59Ni1CuAl and 55Ni5CuAl catalysts, respectively. The maximum promoting action observed in the 58Ni2CuAl catalyst was attributed to the finding that, in this catalyst, there is no considerable masking of the Ni-Cu alloy by Ni0 or Cu0. The relatively low performance of the 55Ni5CuAl catalyst with respect to the other promoted catalysts was attributed, in addition to the partial coverage of Ni-Cu alloy by Cu0, to the remarkably low weak/moderate acidity and relatively high strong acidity exhibited by this catalyst. The former favors selective deoxygenation whereas the latter favors coke formation. Copper addition does not affect the selective-deoxygenation reactions network, which proceeds predominantly via the dehydration-decarbonylation route over all the catalysts studied.