Selective conversion of coconut oil to fatty alcohols in methanol over a hydrothermally prepared Cu/SiO2 catalyst without extraneous hydrogen

A novel one-pot approach selects a hydrothermally synthesized Cu/SiO2 catalyst (consisting of Cu2O.SiO2 and Cu-0 surface species) to catalyze the reduction of a series of fatty esters, fatty acids, and coconut oil to fatty alcohols at 240 degrees C in methanol without extraneous hydrogen, attaining around 85% conversion and 100% selectivity.