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Published on: September 2, 2016
Highly Efficient Process for Production of Biofuel from Ethanol Catalyzed by Ruthenium Pincer Complexes
Yinjun Xie1, Yehoshoa Ben-David1, Linda J W Shimon1
1Departments of †Organic Chemistry and ‡Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Abstract:
A highly efficient ruthenium pincer-catalyzed Guerbet-type process for the production of biofuel from ethanol has been developed. It produces the highest conversion of ethanol (73.4%, 0.02 mol% catalyst) for a Guerbet-type reaction, including significant amounts of C4 (35.8% yield), C6 (28.2% yield), and C8 (9.4% yield) alcohols. Catalyst loadings as low as 0.001 mol% can be used, leading to a record turnover number of 18 209. Mechanistic studies reveal the likely active ruthenium species and the main deactivation process.
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