Synthesis of diesel range alkanes with 2-methylfuran and mesityl oxide from lignocellulose

For the first time, the alkylation of 2-methylfuran with mesityl oxide was carried out over a series of solid acid catalysts. Among the investigated candidates, Nafion-212 resin exhibited the highest catalytic efficiency and good stability, which can be rationalized by the higher acid strength of this catalyst. The hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of the alkylation products of 2-methylfuran with mesityl oxide was also studied. Ni-Mo2C/SiO2 and Ni-W2C/SiO2 were firstly used for the HDO of biomass derived oxygenates and demonstrated excellent catalytic performance for the conversion of the alkylation products to alkanes. Compared with Ni-W2C/SiO2, Ni-Mo2C/SiO2 exhibited higher selectivity to diesel range alkanes. Over the Ni-Mo2C/SiO2 catalyst, high carbon yield of diesel range alkanes (77%) could be achieved by the HDO of the alkylation products of 2-methylfuran and mesityl oxide at 573 K and 6.0 MPa H-2. This value is evidently higher than those obtained over noble metal catalysts and Ni-WxC/AC under the same reaction conditions. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.