Intermediates detection in the conversion of ethanol to butanol catalyzed by zirconium, cerium, titanium monoxide cations by inductively coupled plasma tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract Ethanol to butanol (ETB) process is an attractive route to upgrade abundant substrate into a product with superior properties in energy industry. For the mechanism research, the detection of intermediates is vital. In this paper, intermediates in ETB reaction catalyzed by monoxide ions [ZrO]+/[CeO]+/[TiO]+ were investigated by inductively coupled plasma tandem mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS). Some important organic small molecule intermediates, metal-adduct intermediates and their formation pathways were discussed to reveal the reaction mechanism in this research. Isotopic labelling experiments were also designed to ensure the existence of these intermediates.