Selective Hydrodeoxygenation of Lignin-Derived Phenols to Cyclohexanols or Cyclohexanes over Magnetic CoNx@NC Catalysts under Mild Conditions

The hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of lignin derived phenols is important to produce the renewable biofuels. Herein, we reported a simple method to prepare magnetic nitrogen-doped carbon supported cobalt nitride catalysts (CoNx@NC) by copyrolysis of cellulose and cobalt nitrate under ammonia atmosphere. The catalysts were prepared at different temperatures and characterized by elemental analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). The CoNx@NC-650 (pyrolyzed at 650 degrees C) exhibited the best HDO activity for eugenol conversion among a series of Co-based catalysts. The yield of propylcyclohexanol from eugenol was >99.9% under 2 MPa H-2 at 200 degrees C for 2 h. Moreover, a high yield of propylcyclohexane (99.1%) could be achieved when the solid acid HZSM-5 was added to the reaction system. Other lignin-derived phenolic compounds were also investigated and the yield of alkanes was >90%. Based on the mechanism investigation, the catalyst demonstrated a high selectivity to cleave the C-aryl-OR bond under mild conditions.