Reductive dehydration of alcohols: A route to alkanes

The reductive dehydration of cyclic (C-5, C-6) and aliphatic (C-2-C-4) alcohols into polycycloalkanes and alkanes whose carbon skeleton has at least twice as many atoms as that of the original substrate is reported for the first time. This reaction takes place at 250-350degreesC and 7-50 atm in the presence of a polymetallic catalytic system based on an iron-containing fused catalyst or a hydrided iron- and titanium-containing intermetallide mixed with a small amount of Pt/Al2O3. The mechanism of this new reaction is discussed in terms of the mechanisms of known reactions of alcohols and aldehydes enlarging the carbon skeleton.