title: Direct hydrodeoxygenation of raw woody biomass into liquid alkanes.
abstract: Being the only sustainable source of organic carbon, biomass is playing an ever-increasingly important role in our energy landscape. The conversion of renewable lignocellulosic biomass into liquid fuels is particularly attractive but extremely challenging due to the inertness and complexity of lignocellulose. Here we describe the direct hydrodeoxygenation of raw woods into liquid alkanes with mass yields up to 28.1 wt% over a multifunctional Pt/NbOPO4 catalyst in cyclohexane. The superior performance of this catalyst allows simultaneous conversion of cellulose, hemicellulose and, more significantly, lignin fractions in the wood sawdust into hexane, pentane and alkylcyclohexanes, respectively. Investigation on the molecular mechanism reveals that a synergistic effect between Pt, NbOx species and acidic sites promotes this highly efficient hydrodeoxygenation of bulk lignocellulose. No chemical pretreatment of the raw woody biomass or separation is required for this one-pot process, which opens a general and energy-efficient route for converting raw lignocellulose into valuable alkanes.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Research Institute of Industrial Catalysis, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Qineng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Research Institute of Industrial Catalysis, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Zongjia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Research Institute of Industrial Catalysis, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Research Institute of Industrial Catalysis, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Xueqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Research Institute of Industrial Catalysis, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Haifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Research Institute of Industrial Catalysis, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: ISIS Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK.
authors.forename: Stewart F
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3228-2570
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.|School of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
authors.forename: Sihai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Research Institute of Industrial Catalysis, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Yanqin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000473:Alkanes / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D002384:Catalysis; D003510:Cyclohexanes / Q000737:chemistry; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry*; D009556:Niobium / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010984:Platinum / Q000737:chemistry*; D014934:Wood / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000473:Alkanes; D056804:Biofuels; D003510:Cyclohexanes; D009556:Niobium; C036909:lignocellulose; C506365:Cyclohexane; D010984:Platinum; D008031:Lignin