2023 journal article
Ethanol Upgrading to n-Butanol Using Transition-Metal-Incorporated Poly(triazine)imide Frameworks
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES, 15(30), 36384–36393.
author keywords: catalysis; Guerbet; ethanol; butanol; carbon nitride; supported catalysts
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
12. Responsible Consumption and Production
(Web of Science)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: August 14, 2023
The upgrading of ethanol to n-butanol was performed using a molecular catalyst integrated into a carbon nitride support, one of the first examples of a supported molecular catalyst performing the Guerbet process. Initial studies using crystalline poly(triazine)imide (PTI) with lithium or transition-metal cations imbedded in the support together with a base as the catalyst system did not produce any significant amounts of n-butanol. However, when using the catalyst material formed by treatment of PTI-LiCl with [(Cp*)IrCl2]2 (Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) along with sodium hydroxide, a 59% selectivity for butanol (13% yield) was obtained at 145 °C. This PTI-(Cp*)Ir material exhibited distinct UV-vis absorption features and powder X-ray diffractions which differ from those of the parent PTI-LiCl and [(Cp*)IrCl2]2. The PTI-(Cp*)Ir material was found to have a metal loading of 27% iridium per empirical unit of the framework. Along with the formation of n-butanol from the Guerbet reaction, the presence of higher chain alcohols was also observed.