Direct Synthesis of Renewable Dodecanol and Dodecane with Methyl Isobutyl Ketone over Dual-Bed Catalyst Systems

For the first time, we demonstrated two integrated processes for the direct synthesis of dodecanol or 2,4,8-trimethylnonane (a jet fuel range C-12-branched alkane) using methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) that can be derived from lignocellulose. The reactions were carried out in dual-bed continuous flow reactors. In the first bed, MIBK was selectively converted to a mixture of C-12 alcohol and ketone. Over the Pd-modified magnesium-aluminium hydrotalcite (Pd-MgAl-HT) catalyst, a high total carbon yield (73.0%) of C-12 oxygenates can be achieved under mild conditions. In the second bed, the C-12 oxygenates generated in the first bed were hydrogenated to dodecanol over a Ru/C catalyst or hydrodeoxygenated to 2,4,8-trimethylnonane over a Cu/SiO2 catalyst. The as-obtained dodecanol can be used as feedstock in the production of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), which are widely used as surfactants or detergents. The as-obtained 2,4,8-trimethylnonane can be blended into conventional jet fuel without hydroisomerization.