Hydrodeoxygenation of benzyl alcohol on transition-metal-containing mixed oxides catalysts derived from layered double hydroxide precursors

M-MgAlO mixed oxide catalysts were prepared by controlled thermal decomposition of layered double hydroxides (LDH) precursors and were tested in the hydrodeoxygenation of benzyl alcohol. LDH with Mg/Al= 3 and 10 at. % M with respect to cations (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) were obtained by coprecipitation. A second series of copper-containing catalysts with copper content from 5 to 20 at. % was also prepared. The solids were characterized by X-ray diffraction, N-2 adsorption/desorption, temperature-programmed reduction in H-2 atmosphere, temperature-programmed desorption of CO2. The influence of the transition metal and, for the copper-containing samples, of the copper loading, reaction temperature, reaction time, amount of catalyst and reduction pre-treatment on the catalytic performance were investigated. With 97% alcohol conversion and 96% selectivity to toluene, Cu15MgAlO is the best hydrodeoxygenation catalyst. It was also tested in the hydrodeoxygenation of 1-heptanol.

Automated summary

M-MgAlO mixed oxide catalysts were prepared by controlled thermal decomposition of layered double hydroxides (LDH) precursors and tested in the hydrodeoxygenation of benzyl alcohol. Among them, Cu15MgAlO showed the best catalytic performance for alcohol conversion and selectivity to toluene.