| dc.description.abstract | Biomass is composed of pentosans and hexosans that can be converted to γ-valerolactone (GVL) via an acid-catalyzed dehydration and metal-catalyzed hydrogenation reactions.16,17 Through acid catalysis, GVL can undergo ring-opening to produce isomers of pentenoic acids.43 These pentenoic acids can be converted to olefins or diolefins such as butadiene or pentadiene, both of which are petrochemical intermediates used in the industry. This research focuses on converting pentanoic acid, the hydrogenated form of pentenoic acid, to alcohols so they can be dehydrated to produce alkenes and alkynes.
Direct conversion of carboxylic acids to olefins and diolefins is difficult due to the low electrophilicity of the carbonyl carbon.51,52,72,90-92 This can be intercepted by creating an ester intermediate, which has a lower activation energy than its carboxylic acid counterpart.51 Various molar ratios of alcohols (m-cresol, ethanol, and 1-dodecanol) were cofed with pentanoic acid to increase the pentanol production rate in the liquid phase. The effect of partial pressures of carboxylic acids on the alcohol production rate was also investigated. Finally, a mechanism and the location of the active site for these reactions was discussed using characterization techniques and literature. | en_US |
