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Published on: February 25, 2011
Products Components: Alcohols
Henning Kuhz1, Anja Kuenz1, Ulf Prüße2
1Thünen-Institute of Agricultural Technology, Bundesallee 50, 38116, Braunschweig, Germany.
Abstract:
Alcohols (CnHn+2OH) are classified into primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols, which can be branched or unbranched. They can also feature more than one OH-group (two OH-groups = diol; three OH-groups = triol). Presently, except for ethanol and sugar alcohols, they are mainly produced from fossil-based resources, such as petroleum, gas, and coal. Methanol and ethanol have the highest annual production volume accounting for 53 and 91 million tons/year, respectively. Most alcohols are used as fuels (e.g., ethanol), solvents (e.g., butanol), and chemical intermediates.This chapter gives an overview of recent research on the production of short-chain unbranched alcohols (C1-C5), focusing in particular on propanediols (1,2- and 1,3-propanediol), butanols, and butanediols (1,4- and 2,3-butanediol). It also provides a short summary on biobased higher alcohols (>C5) including branched alcohols.
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