title: Highly Selective Formation of n-Butanol from Ethanol through the Guerbet Process: A Tandem Catalytic Approach.
abstract: A highly selective (>99%) tandem catalytic system for the conversion of ethanol (up to 37%) to n-butanol, through the Guerbet process, has been developed using a bifunctional iridium catalyst coupled with bulky nickel or copper hydroxides. These sterically crowded nickel and copper hydroxides catalyze the key aldol coupling reaction of acetaldehyde to exclusively yield the C4 coupling product, crotonaldehyde. Iridium-mediated dehydrogenation of ethanol to acetaldehyde has led to the development of an ethanol-to-butanol process operated at a lower temperature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester , Rochester, New York 14627, United States.
authors.forename: Sumit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester , Rochester, New York 14627, United States.
authors.forename: Paige E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Piszel
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester , Rochester, New York 14627, United States.|Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences and Centre for Catalysis Research and Innovation, University of Ottawa , Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 Canada.
authors.forename: Cassandra E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences and Centre for Catalysis Research and Innovation, University of Ottawa , Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 Canada.
authors.forename: R Tom
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester , Rochester, New York 14627, United States.
authors.forename: William D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Jones