The effect of solvent in the hydrogenation of lauric acid to lauryl alcohol using Ru-Fe/TiO2 catalyst

Abstract

We describe the effect of solvent in the hydrogenation of lauric acid to lauryl alcohol using bimetallic ruthenium-iron supported on titanium oxide (5.0Ru=xFe/TiO2 (5.0 is loading amount of Ru (wt%) and x = 1.0; 3.0; 5.0 is the loading amount of Fe (wt%). Ru=xFe/TiO2 catalyst was synthesized via the hydrothermal method at a temperature of 150 ? for 24 hours, then followed by reduction with H2 at a temperature of 500 ? for 3 h. The catalytic reactions were carried out in a batch reactor system in various organic solvents (e.g., 2-propanol, water, 1,4-dioxane, tetrahydrofuran, and its mixture solvent). Results of XRD analysis of 5.0Ru=xFe/TiO2 showed a typical diffraction peak at 2? = 44.14o, which can be attributed as metallic Ru(101). The best solvent used was 1,4-dioxane: water (4.5:0.5 ml) at 170 ?, initial H2 pressure 4.0 MPa and a reaction time of 5 h, providing 39.4% lauric acid conversion and 5.8% yield of lauryl alcohol using 5.0Ru=1.0Fe/TiO2 catalyst. The yield of lauryl alcohol could be enhanced up to 33% (at 49.2% conversion) after the reaction time was prolonged to 30 h under the same reaction conditions.