Selective hydrogenolysis of biomass-derived xylitol to ethylene glycol and propylene glycol on Ni/C and basic oxide-promoted Ni/C catalysts

• Ni/C with solid bases catalyzes xylitol hydrogenolysis to two target glycols.
• Bases prevent Ni particles agglomeration and leaching in xylitol hydrogenolysis.
• The yield to ethylene glycol, propylene glycol and glycerol reaches ∼70% on Ni-CaO/C.
• Lactic acid formation is negligible on basic oxide-promoted Ni/C catalysts.

The selective hydrogenolysis of xylitol to ethylene glycol and propylene glycol was examined on Ni/C catalysts in the presence of solid bases, e.g. Ca(OH)2 and CeO2, physically mixed with or co-supported with Ni on C. Compared with Ru/C, the Ni/C catalysts were more selective to the two target glycols under identical conditions, apparently as a result of their lower hydrogenation activity and consequently favored the CC cleavage of xylose intermediate by the base catalyst over its competitive hydrogenation on the Ni particles. Noticeably, the presence of the solid bases rendered the Ni particles resistant to leaching and sintering, and thus stable in the xylitol hydrogenolysis. Supporting the solid bases, especially CeO2 and CaO, with the Ni particles on C led not only to a reduction in the amount of solid bases required, but also efficient formation of the two glycols with negligible lactic acid. For instance, on Ni-CaO/C (at a CaO/Ni molar ratio of 0.66), the combined selectivity to ethylene glycol and propylene glycol, together with glycerol, reached 69.5% at nearly 100% xylitol conversion at 473 K, 4.0 MPa H2. These features of the basic oxide-promoted Ni catalysts show their promising advantages over the noble Ru catalysts, upon optimization of their compositions and structures, and the reaction parameters, for the efficient hydrogenolysis of xylitol and other lignocellulose-derived polyols to produce the two target glycols.

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