• Energy Research

Abstract1,3‐Butadiene (1,3‐BD) is a high‐value chemical intermediate used mainly as a monomer for the production of synthetic rubbers. The ability to source 1,3‐BD from biomass is of considerable current interest because it offers the potential to reduce the life‐cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) impact associated with 1,3‐BD production from petroleum‐derived naphtha. Herein, we report the development and investigation of a new catalyst and process for the one‐step conversion of ethanol to 1,3‐BD. The catalyst is prepared by the incipient impregnation of magnesium oxide onto a silica support followed by the deposition of Au nanoparticles by deposition–precipitation. The resulting Au/MgO‐SiO2 catalyst exhibits a high activity and selectivity to 1,3‐BD and low selectivities to diethyl ether, ethylene, and butenes. Detailed characterization of the catalyst shows that the desirable activity and selectivity of Au/MgO‐SiO2 are a consequence of a critical balance between the acidic–basic sites associated with a magnesium silicate hydrate phase and the redox properties of the Au nanoparticles. A process for the conversion of ethanol to 1,3‐BD, which uses our catalyst, is proposed and analyzed to determine the life‐cycle GHG impact of the production of this product from biomass‐derived ethanol. We show that 1,3‐BD produced by our process can reduce GHG emissions by as much as 155 % relative to the conventional petroleum‐based production of 1,3‐BD.

We describe catalytic sequences for converting biomass-derived carboxylic acids, to fuels and lubricants that are compatible with the existing energy infrastructure.

AbstractInvited for this month′s cover is the group of Alexis T. Bell at The University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California. The image shows the utility of gold nanoparticles deposited on hydrotalcite (Au/HT) for the continuous gas‐phase non‐ oxidative dehydrogenation reaction of bioderived C2–C4 alcohols to the respective carbonyl compounds and hydrogen. The Communication itself is available at 10.1002/cssc.201500786.