Catalytic performance of Ru/TiO2 on hydrodeoxygenation of levulinic acid dimer, taking sebacic acid as a model compound

BACKGROUND: As a bio-derived platform molecule, levulinic acid can be converted to liquid fuels with similar components as aviation kerosene after undergoing aldol self-condensation and successive hydrodeoxygenation reactions. In view of its complicated composition, sebacic acid was selected as a model compound for the investigating the hydrodeoxygenation performance of the product of levulinic acid self-condensation in this work. RESULTS: Firstly, a series of supported metal catalysts were screened and characterized by temperature-programmed desorption of NH3 and CO2, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and CO pulse chemisorption. The results indicated that Ru/TiO2 showed the highest selectivity to total long-chain alkanes at the complete conversion of sebacic acid. Then, the influence of preparation conditions on the catalytic performance of Ru/TiO2 and the effect of reaction conditions on the hydrodeoxygenation of sebacic acid were studied. On this basis, possible hydrodeoxygenation reaction routes were discussed. CONCLUSION: The excellent catalytic performance of Ru/TiO2 is attributed to a moderate degree of Ru reduction and dispersion, along with its unique acid-base characteristics. (c) 2022 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).