Abstract
The lignan hydroxymatairesinol (HMR, extracted from Norway spruce knots) was hydrogenolysed to matairesinol (MAT) over palladium supported by carbon nanofibres (Pd/CNF) in 2-propanol at 70 °C under hydrogen flow. The influence of support acidity on the activity and the selectivity to MAT was studied. The acidity of the Pd/CNF catalyst was varied by heat-treatment at different temperatures in nitrogen flow. The catalysts were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), inductively coupled plasma emission mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS, metal content), H2-chemisorption (dispersion, metal particle size), and titration using NaOH. A more acidic support material was more active and selective to the desired product MAT. The major byproduct was 7-iso-propoxymatairesinol resulting from a reaction of the solvent with HMR over the acid sites on the support. The hydrogenolysis of HMR to MAT requires both the presence of metal and acidity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 141-146 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Catalysis Letters |
| Volume | 113 |
| Issue number | 3-4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2007 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
This work is part of the activities at the Åbo Akademi Process Chemistry Centre within the Finnish Centre of Excellence Programme (2000–2011) by the Academy of Finland. Financial support from the Raisio Group Research Foundation and European Union through the Sixth Framework Programme (Project 506621–1) are gratefully acknowledged. The authors express their gratitude to Mr. Christer Eckerman for the HMR preparation.
Keywords
- Acidity
- Carbon nanofibres
- Hydrogenolysis
- Palladium