Acid-base catalyzed production of transportation fuels from biomass

Koushik Ponnuru, Eric Hernandez, and Friederike C. Jentoft

Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Many industrially significant reactions are catalyzed by acids or bases. Acid-base catalysis plays
an important role in the development of improved oil refining and petrochemical syntheses[1].
With the diminishing petroleum reserves, acid-base catalysis is crucial in the formulation of
more sustainable processes. Biomass is a promising sustainable carbon-neutral resource to obtain
chemicals and transportation fuels. Of the different techniques used for converting biomass to
liquid fuels, fast pyrolysis has been increasingly discussed in literature due to the simplicity of
the process, and direct creation of liquid bio-oil[2]. However, bio-oils thus obtained cannot be
used directly as transportation fuels as they are highly oxygenated and require catalytic
upgrading before use. The main focus of our research group is to study the fundamental
chemistry and develop mechanistic data for the rational design of improved heterogeneous
catalysts.
One such upgrading reaction is the aldol condensation reaction between aldehydes and ketones
present in typical bio-oils. It has been recognized early that aldol reactions play an important role
in bio-crude upgrading [2] since they increase the chain length and produce fuel-length
molecules from small entities besides removing oxygen without loss of carbon. Interestingly,
aldol condensation can also be an undesired secondary reaction that can poison the catalyst [3].
Therefore, this research aims to control heterogeneously catalyzed aldol reactions, that is, to
effect with high selectivity only the desired aldol reactions, while suppressing catalyst poisoning.

References
1.
2.

Bartholomew, C.H. and R.J. Farrauto, Fundamentals of industrial catalytic processes.

2011: John Wiley & Sons.
Mohan, D., C.U. Pittman, and P.H. Steele, Pyrolysis of wood/biomass for bio-oil: a
critical review. Energy & Fuels, 2006. 20(3): p. 848-889.

3.

Alonso, D.M., J.Q. Bond, and J.A. Dumesic, Catalytic conversion of biomass to biofuels.
Green Chemistry, 2010. 12(9): p. 1493-1513.