Structure‐activity Relationship of Cu Species in the Ethanol Upgrading to n‐Butanol

Yuqin Tong, Jian Zhou, Yaohui He, Pengxiang Tu, Bing Xue, Yunhui Cheng, Dr. Jie Cen, Prof. Yifan Zheng, Prof. Jun Ni, and Prof. Xiaonian Li

https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/slct.202000844

Abstract

Cu‐based catalysts have been widely used in ethanol upgrading to value‐added chemicals, however the selectivity towards target products is still not satisfactory due to the complexity of reaction network. Herein, we take the ethanol conversion to n‐butanol as an example, and demonstrate that there are relationships of the ethanol conversion, the selectivity of n‐butanol and ethyl acetate, and the rate of n‐butanol formation with the ratios of the surface area of Cu⁰ and Cu⁺. Both Cu⁰ and Cu⁺ are involved in the formation of ethyl acetate, and the ratio is indicative of the catalytic performance, being the higher the ratio, the higher activity of ethanol conversion to n‐butanol but lower selectivity towards ethyl acetate. This work will help develop more efficient and selective catalysts for ethanol upgrading.