Are fermentation products promising feedstock for high-density bio-fuel? domino reactions for upgrading aqueous acetone–butanol–ethanol mixtures

Abstract

Efficient and selective upgrading of aqueous acetone−n-butanol−ethanol (ABE) mixtures to high-density bio-fuel, especially aviation fuel and biodiesel is extremely desirable but still remains a significant challenge. Here for the first...

Catalytic production of long-chain hydrocarbons suitable for jet-fuel use from fermentation-derived oxygenates

“…The carbon losses were attributed to HDO of unreacted acetone in the coupling step to the volatile propane. Gong et al 76 proposed a three-step conversion process of ABE mixtures into cyclic alkanes (Fig. 6) consisting of monoalkylation, trimerization of the resulting 2-ketones and HDO.…”

“…Wu et al 73 continued with Ni as a catalyst supported on MgO–Al 2 O 3 and concluded that the yield of double-alkylated products can be enhanced by a higher Ni content in the catalysts (80% yield with 6% Ni) as well as a higher reducing temperature for the catalyst preparation (total yield increased from 68.4% to 88.6% when going from 600 °C to 800 °C), confirming the suitability of using Ni as a metal catalyst as opposed to the more expensive Pd. In a later study, Gong et al 76 aimed for higher water content in the alkylation step for upgrading ABE mixtures using Ni/MgO–SBA: an increase from 9.7% to 12.1% led to only a slight decrease in conversion (63.9% to 59.4%). By adjusting the Ni content down to 5%, a high selectivity towards 2-heptanone was achieved (59%) with a conversion higher than 50%: the authors argued that the decrease in heptane formation with lower Ni content was due to a decrease in metal and acid sites that would favour HDO of the ketone towards the alkane.…”

Perspectives on Multifunctional Catalysts Derived from Layered Double Hydroxides toward Upgrading Reactions of Biomass Resources

“…(B) Effect of Ni loading amount on the catalytic performance over the Ni-MgO-SBA-16 catalysts. Reaction conditions: 12.1 wt % water containing acetone-n-butanol-ethanol mixture (10 g), dodecane (1 g), Ni-MgO-SBA-16 catalyst (1 g), reaction temperature (240 °C), and 24 h. Reproduced with permission from ref . Copyright 2020 Royal Society of Chemistry.…”

“…Recently, Gong et al reported a feasible method, in which aqueous acetone-n-butanol-ethanol fermentation mixtures were converted to branched alkylcyclohexanes at simultaneous high energy density and low freezing point. 166 This domino reaction involves three steps: (1) monoalkylation of acetone-nbutanol-ethanol mixtures with an initial water content of 12.1 wt %, (2) trimer condensation of the obtained methyl ketones, and (3) hydrodeoxygenation reaction. Notably, the Nicontaining MgAl-MMO catalyst derived from LDHs was used, and the solvent effect was studied in this reaction.…”

Facile Synthesis of Defective Porous Sn-Modified CeO2 Catalyst via Ball Milling-Pyrolysis Method for Efficient Conversion of Biomass-Derived Oxygenates

“…The upgradation of biomass-derived oxygenates to chemicals and fuels is sustainable and renewable, contributing to the carbon-neutral society. − The acetone– n -butanol–ethanol (ABE) mixture, as a renewable and environmentally friendly biomass-derived oxygenate, can be obtained from industrial fermentation and act as a feedstock to produce biofuels and biochemicals. , In ABE fermentation conversion, it is not selective for deprotonation of the C–H group at the α-positions of the primary products. Enolate intermediates formed in the process react with aldehyde or ketone to produce a vast range of a longer chain ketone mixture (C5–C11), which is ideal for fuel-based production but not enough for single chemical fabrication. , In recent years, it has made a great progress in ABE fermentation conversion over various catalysts to produce sustainable ketones and alkanes as fossil precursors with high energy densities and low freezing points. − Previously, we developed a strategy for a selective conversion of the ABE mixture to phase-separable 4-heptanone (4-HPO) (a multipurpose precursor which can be used to synthesize various value-added chemicals and fuels) with a high selectivity over conventional Sn-doped CeO 2 catalysts . However, the catalytic activity of Sn-doped ceria was limited due to the insufficient exposure of highly dispersed Sn species and the low concentration of oxygen vacancy.…”