Hydrodeoxygenation of Fatty Acids, Triglycerides, and Ketones to Liquid Alkanes by a Pt–MoOx/TiO2 Catalyst

Various supported metal catalysts are screened for hydrogenation of lauric acid and 2‐octanone as model reactions for the transformation of biomass‐derived oxygenates to liquid alkanes (biofuels) in a batch reactor under solvent‐free conditions. Among the catalysts tested, Pt and MoOx co‐loaded on TiO2 (Pt–MoOx/TiO2) shows the highest yields of n‐alkanes for both of the reactions. Pt–MoOx/TiO2 selectively catalyzes the hydrodeoxygenation of various fatty acids and triglycerides to n‐alkanes without C−C bond cleavage under 50 bar H2 and shows higher turnover numbers than the catalysts in the literature. Pt–MoOx/TiO2 is effective also for the hydrodeoxygenation of various ketones to the corresponding alkanes. In situ IR study of the reaction of adsorbed acetone under H2 suggests that the high activity of Pt–MoOx/TiO2 is attributed to the cooperation between Pt and Lewis acid sites of the MoOx/TiO2 support. Hydrodeoxygenation without cleavage: Pt–MoOx/TiO2 shows high activity for the selective hydrodeoxygenation of fatty acids, triglycerides, and ketones under solvent‐free conditions to give n‐alkanes without C−C bond cleavage. H2 is dissociated by Pt sites and the C=O group coordinated to the Mon+ site undergoes Lewis acid activation.