Selective hydrodeoxygenation of acetone to propene via bifunctional metal-acid catalysis

Alshamrani, Rawan, Bahri, Mounib ORCID: 0000-0002-8336-9158, Kozhevnikova, Elena F and Kozhevnikov, Ivan V ORCID: 0000-0003-2453-5256 (2026) Selective hydrodeoxygenation of acetone to propene via bifunctional metal-acid catalysis MOLECULAR CATALYSIS, 595. 115859-. ISSN 2468-8231

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Abstract

This study investigated the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of acetone to produce propene at a gas-solid interface using bifunctional metal-acid catalysts. The catalysts included various copper compounds (such as copper chromite (CuCr), CuO, Cu/SiO<inf>2</inf>, Cu/TiO<inf>2</inf> and Cu/γ-Al<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf>) as the metal components along with tungstophosphoric heteropoly compounds (H<inf>3</inf>PW<inf>12</inf>O<inf>40</inf> (HPW) and Cs<inf>2.5</inf>H<inf>0.5</inf>PW<inf>12</inf>O<inf>40</inf> (CsPW)) and zeolites (HZSM-5, H-Mordenite and HY) as the acid components. These components were physically mixed to form bifunctional catalysts. The catalysts were characterised using BET, XRD, H<inf>2</inf>-TPR, DRIFTS and STEM-EDX. The HDO process involved the hydrogenation of acetone to isopropanol on metal sites, followed by dehydration to propene on acid sites. Catalyst activity decreased in the following order: CuCr > CuO, Cu/SiO<inf>2</inf> > Cu/TiO<inf>2</inf>, Cu/Al<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf> and CsPW > HZSM-5 > HPW > HY, H-Mordenite. The combination of CuCr with CsPW (1:1 w/w) produced the best results, with 93% propene selectivity at 99% acetone conversion (92% propene yield) under mild conditions (180 °C and 1 bar pressure), surpassing previously reported catalysts. During the process, Cu(II) in CuCr was reduced to Cu(0), serving as the active sites for hydrogenation. At the optimal CuCr/CsPW ratio of 1:1 w/w, the molar ratio of Cu(0) to H⁺ surface sites was estimated to be Cu/H⁺ = 5 as a first-order estimate. This study demonstrated that Cu-based bifunctional metal-acid catalysis is promising for the selective HDO of ketones to alkenes.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Acetone, Propene, Hydrodeoxygenation, Bifunctional catalysis, Copper chromite, Heteropoly acid
Divisions:	Faculty of Science & Engineering Faculty of Science & Engineering > School of Physical Sciences Faculty of Science & Engineering > School of Physical Sciences > Chemistry
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	18 Mar 2026 09:37
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 05:19
DOI:	10.1016/j.mcat.2026.115859
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcat.2026.115859
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3197594
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