Bacterial diseases are usually detected by first enriching samples, then separating, identifying, and counting the bacteria. This type of procedure usually takes at least two days after arrival of the sample in the laboratory. Tests that work faster, in the field, and without complex sample ... more
Biomass as a source of raw materials
New process for obtaining alkanes from bio-oil
05-19-2009: For the protection of the environment, and because of the limited amount of fossil fuels available, renewable resources, such as specially cultivated plants, wood scraps, and other plant waste, are becoming the focus of considerable attention. Processes such as pyrolysis or liquefaction allow the conversion of biomass into bio-oil, a highly promising renewable source of energy. A team of German and Chinese scientists led by Johannes A. Lercher at the Technical University of Munich has now developed a new catalytic process to convert components of bio-oil directly into alkanes and methanol. As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the process is based on a "one-pot" reaction catalyzed by a precious metal on a carbon support combined with an inorganic acid.
Bio-oil is an aqueous, acidic, highly oxidized mixture. However, its high oxygen content and instability turn out to have a negative impact: bio-oil cannot be used directly as a liquid fuel. It would, however, be highly interesting as a source of basic raw materials if it were possible to convert it to alkanes. Alkanes, which are also commonly called paraffins, are saturated hydrocarbons; they are among the most important raw materials for chemical industry, and in particular as starting materials for the production of plastics. Furthermore, they are among the primary fuels in the world's economy.
Bio-oil contains a phenolic fraction consisting of compounds with the main framework being an aromatic ring made of six carbon atoms with some hydroxy (-OH) groups attached. With the new process, the phenolic components of bio-oil can be converted with high selectivity to cycloalkanes (ring-shaped alkanes) and methanol. The researchers were able to demonstrate this with various model substances. As catalyst, they used palladium metal on a carbon support, with phosphoric acid as the proton source for the reaction.
The reaction is a "one-pot" reaction, meaning a one-step reaction whose partial reactions (hydrogenation, hydrolysis, and dehydration) occur in the same reactor, with no intermediate work-up. The secret is in the catalyst, which works on all of these different reactions. The end result is a mixture of various alkanes that separates into a second phase, making it easy to separate from the aqueous bio-oil phase. The new process is a practical approach for the direct use of bio-oil for the production of alkanes.
Original publication: Johannes A. Lercher et al.; "Highly Selective Catalytic Conversion of Phenolic Bio-Oil to Alkanes"; Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2009, 48, No. 22, 4047-4050
Contact / Request information
Request further information free of charge:
Additional Information
Facts, background information, dossiers
More about Wiley
-
News
Biomass as a source of raw materials
For the protection of the environment, and because of the limited amount of fossil fuels available, renewable resources, such as specially cultivated plants, wood scraps, and other plant waste, are becoming the focus of considerable attention. Processes such as pyrolysis or liquefaction all ... more
Diagnosis and treatment in one go: Korean researchers led by Tae Gwan Park and Jinwoo Cheon have developed the basis for a four-in-one agent that can detect, target, and disable tumor cells while also making them macroscopically and microscopically visible. As they report in the journal Ang ... more
More about Angewandte Chemie
-
News
Biomass as a source of raw materials
For the protection of the environment, and because of the limited amount of fossil fuels available, renewable resources, such as specially cultivated plants, wood scraps, and other plant waste, are becoming the focus of considerable attention. Processes such as pyrolysis or liquefaction all ... more
Diagnosis and treatment in one go: Korean researchers led by Tae Gwan Park and Jinwoo Cheon have developed the basis for a four-in-one agent that can detect, target, and disable tumor cells while also making them macroscopically and microscopically visible. As they report in the journal Ang ... more
The discovery of a soccer-ball-shaped molecule made of 60 carbon atoms was a minor revolution in chemistry: Fullerenes are spherical, highly symmetrical molecules made of carbon atoms, and are the third form of carbon after diamond and graphite. However, the C60 "soccer ball" is not the onl ... more
More about TU München
Contact
Technische Universität München
Arcisstrasse 21
80333 Munich
DEUTSCHLAND
Arcisstrasse 21
80333 Munich
DEUTSCHLAND
- Phone
- +49-89-289-01
- Fax
- +49-89-289-22000
-
News
Single-neuron observations mark steps in Alzheimer's disease
Studying a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, neuroscientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen have observed correlations between increases in both soluble and plaque-forming beta-amyloid – a protein implicated in the disease process – and dysfunctional developments on several level ... more
New capabilities in single-molecule sensing
The latest advance in solid-state nanopore sensors – devices that are made with standard tools of the semiconductor industry yet can offer single-molecule sensitivity for label-free protein screening – expands their bag of tricks through bionanotechnology. Researchers at the Technische Univ ... more
Aimed shot on single molecules
Nowadays, large laser systems provide ultra-short light pulses of very high intensity, which – in principle – allow the imaging of matter and its dynamics on atomic scales, down to a single molecule or a virus. However, current methods fall short in efficiency to overlap a target molecule i ... more
Most read news
- 1Schleicher & Schuell has been purchased by Whatman plc
- 2SCHOTT Instruments has changed its name to SI Analytics
- 3VWR International, LLC Signs Agreement to Acquire basan Germany GmbH
- 4SGS Minerals Services opens new lab in Chennai, India
- 5MDS Sciex Opens Manufacturing Facility in Singapore
- 6Sartorius opens new plant in India
- 7Affymetrix and eBioscience Amend Definitive Merger Agreement
- 8Fluidigm China Opens Its Doors
- 9Thermo Fisher Scientific Acquires NanoDrop Technologies
- 10PIAB announces new Chief Executive Officer
News from technology
News from Germany
Last viewed
- PerkinElmer Acquires Analytica of Branford, Inc. - - Investment Enhances Mass Spectrometry Portfolio & Expertise
- Antibody Fragment Production Breakthrough with 2nd Generation EBA -
- UN Stockholm Convention concludes that only certain lower brominated diphenylethers are POPs -
- nanoparticles - Products, news, whitepaper, companies, specialist information
- More protection against explosives and nuclear material in freight containers -
