Aqueous-phase hydrogenation of mono- and disaccharides over ruthenium based catalysts: influence of the support

JUAN J. MUSCI; MAIA MONTAÑA; ILEANA D. LICK; ANDREA B. MERLO; MÓNICA L. CASELLA

Florencia

Congreso; 13th European Congress on Catalysis; 2017

ERIC aisbl (European Research Institute of Catalysis)

The use of renewable raw materials and the development of different strategies for the valorization of biomass, together with heterogeneous catalysis is an interesting alternative for the replacement of petroleum in obtaining intermediates and final chemical products of high added value1. Cellulose is the most abundant and nonedible carbohydrate. For this reason, it is expected to be the first objective of the chemistry of biomass resources2. By degradation of cellulosic biomass, mono-, di- and oligosaccharides can be obtained, which can be transformed into valuable products or intermediates, such as alcohols of general interest3. In the present contribution, we report the preparation and characterization of a series of Ru catalysts supported on zirconia and phosphated zirconia, both as bulk and alumina-supported phases. The catalysts are expected to be active for the aqueous phase hydrogenation of monosaccharides (xylose and glucose). We also tested cellobiose, a disaccharide, as a model substrate for cellulose fragments to evaluate the performance of the catalysts.