UNS:Catalytic Deoxygenation of Lignin Derived Compounds for the Production of Aromatics

该提案旨在了解和进一步开发一类相对较新的金属碳化物催化剂，用于木质生物质材料选择性催化转化为有用的化学品。目前，生物质原料的精炼是一个复杂的、能源密集型的过程。提出的工作旨在通过改进催化剂设计和针对中间产品选择性转化为高价值化学品来提高转化过程的效率。这项工作将有助于使生物精炼工艺比现有的石油精炼工艺更具竞争力，从而有助于朝着可持续的化学和能源未来发展。该研究将研究一组木质素衍生的单体转化为芳香族化合物利用金属碳化物催化剂。它的灵感来自于同一组的初步结果，显示苯甲醚的碳转化率大于80%，并且稳定的流上性能约为60小时。这项工作将获得更详细的了解速率常数，位置要求，以及催化剂结构和组成之间的关系，所有这些都可以用于开发改进的金属碳化物催化剂。为此，研究人员将开发金属碳化物催化剂的合成和表征方案，然后确定活性位点和选择性碳氧键裂解的机会，以生产高价值的芳香族产品。虽然这一建议是专门针对金属碳化物催化剂升级木质素热解的中间体，它可能会通过提供一个框架来思考催化材料表现出一系列的表面功能，以及涉及同样复杂分子的反应，从而推进该领域。催化剂合成工作，结合结构和化学表征数据，以及严格的动力学数据，将更好地了解优化催化剂以攻击特定键和选择性地产生特定产物的挑战和机遇。该项目制定了相应的教育和推广计划，提高从大学校友到小学到高中学生的广泛社区对可持续化学和可再生能源的认识。

The proposal seeks to understand and further develop a relatively new class of metal carbide catalysts for the selective catalytic conversion of woody biomass material to useful chemicals. Refining of biomass material is presently a complicated and energy intensive process. The proposed work aims to make the conversion process more efficient by improving catalyst design and targeting the selective conversion of intermediate products to high-value chemicals. The work will help make bio-refining processes more competitive with existing petroleum refining processes, and thereby aid progress toward a sustainable chemical and energy future. The research will examine the conversion of a set of lignin-derived monomers to aromatic compounds utilizing metal carbide catalysts. It is inspired by preliminary results from the same group showing greater than 80% carbon conversion of anisole to benzene with stable time-on-stream performance for approximately 60 hours. The proposed work will obtain more detailed understanding of the rate constants, site requirements, and relationships between catalyst structure and composition, all of which can be used to develop improved metal carbide catalysts. To this end, the researchers will develop synthesis and characterization protocols for metal carbide catalysts, and then identify active sites and opportunities for selective carbon-oxygen bond cleavage to produce high-value aromatic products. Although this proposal is directed specifically at metal carbide catalysts for upgrading intermediates of lignin pyrolysis, it potentially will advance the field by providing a framework for thinking about catalysis on materials exhibiting a range of surface functionalities, and reactions involving equally complex molecules. The catalyst synthesis work, combined with structural and chemical characterization data, and rigorous kinetic data, will be integrated to obtain better understanding of the challenges and opportunities for optimizing catalysts to attack specific bonds and selectively produce specific products. The PI has developed corresponding educational and outreach programs that increase awareness of sustainable chemistry and renewable energy across a broad community ranging from university alumni to elementary through high school students.