Selective dehydration of diols to allylic alcohols catalyzed by ceria

CeO2 catalyzed the selective dehydration of 1,3-diols into allylic alcohols at temperatures 300-375degreesC. In the dehydration of 1,3-propanediol over pure CeO2, 2-propen-1-ol is produced with the maximum selectivity of 98.9 mol% at 325degreesC. In the dehydration of 1,3-butanediol, 2-buten-1-ol and 3-buten-2-ol were produced with the sum of the selectivity > 99 mol% over CeO2, which showed attractive catalytic performance without decay at temperatures <375degreesC. In the reactions of 2-buten-1-ol, 1,2- and 1,4-butanediol, little dehydrated products were detected over the CeO2. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.