Integrated study on the role of solvent, catalyst and reactant in the hydrodeoxygenation of eugenol over nickel-based catalysts

Abstract The hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of phenols to hydrocarbons is a very promising technique process for the lignin valorization. To reveal the role of reactant, solvent and catalyst, the HDO experiments of eugenol to hydrocarbons were carried out at 523 K under 3 MPa H 2 over Ni catalysts supported on activated carbon (AC) and MFI-type zeolites in polar water and nonpolar n-hexane, respectively. It was found that Ni/AC was more efficient for the HDO of eugenol in water than in n-hexane, but Ni/HZSM-5 was just the opposite. The respective roles of Bronsted acid sites and Lewis acid sites on supports were also investigated by employing NaZSM-5, HZSM-5 and silicalite-1 as supports. It was revealed that Bronsted acid showed superior advantages (TOF: 37.9 h −1 to 11.1 h −1 ) over Lewis acid in the dehydration of 4-propyl-cyclohexanol. Oxygen-containing functional groups could be removed from the aromatic ring completely over Ni/HZSM-5 in n-hexane.