Aqueous phase hydrogenation of acetic acid to ethanol over Ir-MoOx/SiO2 catalyst

Mo modified Ir/SiO2 (Ir-MoOx/SiO2) was firstly used for the aqueous-phase hydrogenation of acetic acid to ethanol and exhibited the best performance among the investigated catalysts. The synergy effect between the closely contacted Ir and Mo species is responsible for the excellent performance of Ir-MoOx/SiO2. Ir-MoOx/SiO2 is also effective for the hydrogenation of other biomass derived carboxylic acids. Especially when levulinic acid was used as the feedstock, high yields of 2-pentanol (39.0%) and 1,4-pentanediol (42.3%) were obtained simultaneously. To our knowledge, this is the first report about the direct hydrogenation of levulinic acid to 2-pentanol and 1,4-pentanediol over heterogeneous catalyst. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.