Highly selective hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to methyl glycolate and ethylene glycol over an amino-assisted Ru-based catalyst

Lei Song; Yan He; Changan Zhou; Guoqiang Shu; Kui Ma; Hairong Yue

doi:10.1039/d2cc03346a

Highly selective hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to methyl glycolate and ethylene glycol over an amino-assisted Ru-based catalyst

Chem Commun (Camb). 2022 Oct 18;58(83):11657-11660. doi: 10.1039/d2cc03346a.

Authors

Lei Song¹, Yan He¹, Changan Zhou¹, Guoqiang Shu¹, Kui Ma¹, Hairong Yue^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Multi-phases Reaction Engineering Laboratory, School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China. hryue@scu.edu.cn.
² Institute of New Energy and Low-Carbon Technology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610207, China.

PMID: 36164825
DOI: 10.1039/d2cc03346a

Abstract

A Ru/NH₂-MCM-41 catalyst was prepared via a coordination-assisted strategy for chemoselective hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate with a high selectivity of methyl glycolate (ca. 100%) and ethylene glycol (>90%) at reaction temperatures of 343 K and 433 K, respectively. The amino groups help to anchor and form stable electron-rich Ru active sites, which accounts for the excellent CO bond activation and hydrogenation selectivity.

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Ethylene Glycol* / chemistry
Glycolates
Hydrogenation
Oxalates* / chemistry

Substances

Glycolates
Oxalates
glycolic acid
Ethylene Glycol