Synthesis of aviation biofuel precursors from biomass-derived ketones: Substrate adsorption configuration-catalytic activity

Tan Li; Linjia Yin; Wenhao Xu; Yi Zhang; Hong Xian; Frederik Ronsse; Zhenglong Li; Michael Cordon; Kaige Wang

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2024.131858

Synthesis of aviation biofuel precursors from biomass-derived ketones: Substrate adsorption configuration-catalytic activity

Bioresour Technol. 2024 Nov 21:131858. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2024.131858. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Tan Li¹, Linjia Yin², Wenhao Xu³, Yi Zhang⁴, Hong Xian⁵, Frederik Ronsse⁶, Zhenglong Li⁷, Michael Cordon⁸, Kaige Wang⁹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China. Electronic address: 12027011@zju.edu.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China. Electronic address: yinlinjia@zju.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China. Electronic address: 22227021@zju.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China. Electronic address: 22227054@zju.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China. Electronic address: 22227029@zju.edu.cn.
⁶ Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Frederik.Ronsse@ugent.be.
⁷ College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China. Electronic address: zhenglongli@zju.edu.cn.
⁸ Manufacturing Science Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, United States. Electronic address: cordonmj@ornl.gov.
⁹ State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China. Electronic address: kaigewang@zju.edu.cn.

PMID: 39580098
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2024.131858

Abstract

The production of aviation biofuel precursors from biomass-derived ketones by heterogeneous catalysis has been hindered by the low catalytic activity. Herein, a series of Cu-doped metal oxide catalysts were prepared for the conversion of biomass-derived ketones to aviation biofuel precursors. Solvent-free cyclopentanone conversion via aldol condensation reached 91.1 % over Cu/Al₂O₃ with 100 % selectivity toward dimer and trimer oxygenated species, all of which are aviation biofuel precursors. This catalyst primarily contains Cu₂O and Cu nanoparticles which are uniformly dispersed across the Al₂O₃ surface. From in situ DRIFTS and DFT results, the incorporation of Cu species onto Al₂O₃ not only increased the diversity of Lewis acidic sites, but also changed the adsorption of C = O groups, which lead to the increased aldol condensation activity of Cu/Al₂O₃. This study provides insight on the design of heterogeneous catalysts suitable for the solvent-free synthesis of aviation biofuel precursors from biomass-derived ketones.

Keywords: Adsorption configuration; Aldol condensation; Aviation biofuel precursors; Biomass-derived ketones; Cu-supported catalyst.