Demethoxylation of guaiacol and methoxybenzenes over carbon-supported Ru–Mn catalyst

[Display omitted] •Guaiacol is converted to cyclohexanol and methanol over Ru-based catalysts.•Addition of Mn to Ru/C improves the cyclohexanol and methanol yields.•The Mn species are mainly Mn(II)O and are located nearby the Ru particles.•Methoxybenzenes without OH groups such as anisole are also demethoxylated. Hydrodeoxygenation of methoxybenzenes such as guaiacol over Ru catalyst was studied. Guaiacol was demethoxylated and then hydrogenated over carbon black supported Ru–MnOx catalyst (Ru–MnOx/C) forming cyclohexanol and methanol in good yield (81% and 86%, respectively) under relatively mild conditions (433K, H2 1.5MPa). Over Ru–MnOx/C, yield of demethoxylated products (cyclohexanol and cyclohexane) was almost the same as that of methanol, suggesting that the methoxy group is eliminated by demethoxylation to form methanol. Other methoxybenzenes such as 2,6-dimethoxyphenol and anisole were also converted to demethoxylated saturated compounds such as cyclohexanol and cyclohexane. The reaction scheme was proposed where demethoxylation and total hydrogenation of aromatic ring from partially-hydrogenated adsorbed guaiacol proceeded in parallel. Lower H2 pressure and higher reaction temperature were advantageous to demethoxylation. Addition of MnOx species slowed down the reaction rate of total hydrogenation of aromatic ring, which increased the relative rate of the elimination of methoxy group to that of total hydrogenation before the elimination. The catalyst can be reused without significant loss of activity. The nanoparticles of Ru and Mn were highly dispersed, and the state of Mn species on Ru–MnOx/C during the reaction was weakly basic MnO.