Aqueous phase hydrogenation of acetic acid to ethanol over Ir-MoOx/SiO2 catalyst

• Ir-MoOx/SiO2 was firstly used for the hydrogenation of acetic acid to ethanol.
• Ir-MoOx/SiO2 exhibited the best performance among the investigated catalysts.
• Synergism effect between the closely contacted Ir and Mo species was observed.
• Ir-MoOx/SiO2 is active for the hydrogenation of biomass derived carboxylic acids.
• A route for the simultaneous production of pentanol and pentanediol was developed.

Mo modified Ir/SiO2 (Ir-MoOx/SiO2) was firstly used for the aqueous-phase hydrogenation of acetic acid to ethanol and exhibited the best performance among the investigated catalysts. The synergy effect between the closely contacted Ir and Mo species is responsible for the excellent performance of Ir-MoOx/SiO2. Ir-MoOx/SiO2 is also effective for the hydrogenation of other biomass derived carboxylic acids. Especially when levulinic acid was used as the feedstock, high yields of 2-pentanol (39.0%) and 1,4-pentanediol (42.3%) were obtained simultaneously. To our knowledge, this is the first report about the direct hydrogenation of levulinic acid to 2-pentanol and 1,4-pentanediol over heterogeneous catalyst.

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