Bimolecular Condensation of Ethanol to 1-Butanol Catalyzed by Alkali Cation Zeolites

Review of catalytic systems and thermodynamics for the Guerbet condensation reaction and challenges for biomass valorization

“…Direct condensation of an alcohol with its corresponding aldehyde (Scheme 4, R7) or with its enol form (Scheme 4, R8) is reported as a minor reaction pathway. 67,71 The direct condensation route involving two ethanol molecules was first proposed by Yang and Meng 75 and supported by Ndou et al 67 because the addition of intermediate prod-…”

“…Catalytic systems without transition metals require much higher temperatures for alcohol coupling due to the higher activation energy of dehydrogenation. 65,69,75,80,96,102,103 Next to the different reaction mechanisms proposed (vide infra), dehydrogenation on these catalysts is often proposed to occur by transfer hydrogenation mechanisms like the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reaction (MPV), 104 in which the hydrogen from the reagent alcohol is directly transferred to the unsaturated aldol product. It was shown by Gines and Iglesia 94 that addition of copper to a K-Mg 5 CeO x catalyst resulted in much higher incorporation of deuterium in both reactants and products when the reaction was carried out in the presence of D 2 .…”

“…Many publications focus on the Guerbet selfcondensation of ethanol for the production of n-butanol and higher alcohols. [65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78] Just like ethanol, n-butanol can be used as a renewable fuel, yet in comparison with ethanol, it has a higher energy density, a lower volatility and a lower propensity to absorb water. Methanol on the other hand lacks a second carbon atom and cannot self-condensate by Guerbet condensation.…”

One-Pot Liquid-Phase Catalytic Conversion of Ethanol to 1-Butanol over Aluminium Oxide—The Effect of the Active Metal on the Selectivity

“…In the open literature, only a few reports describe the direct catalytic dimerisation or conversion of ethanol to 1-butanol and other hydrocarbons [11][12][13][14][15][16]. These described technologies suggest a two-phase process where ethanol vapor is passed through a solid catalyst packed in a fixed bed.…”

The Challenge of Efficient Synthesis of Biofuels from Lignocellulose for Future Renewable Transportation Fuels

“…One possible candidate which can also be used as a biofuel is 1-butanol that can be manufactured from ethanol by applying modern chemical technology. This type of reactions has been demonstrated over heterogeneous catalysts in the continuous operating mode [37][38][39][40][41][42]. One interest among this type of technology is that it can be carried out by a simple one-pot synthesis strategy.…”