Hydrogenolysis of Succinic Acid to GBL, Butanediol : Catalysis & Kinetic Studies

The overall goal of this study is to develop an active heterogeneous catalyst for aqueous phase hydrogenation of succinic acid to value added industrial products such as propionic acid, γ-butyrolactone, 1,4-butanediol, and  tetrahydrofuran at relatively milder conditions. It is also proposed to investigate fundamentals of catalysis and kinetics and mechanism of the hydrogenation reactions. This activity is part of a broader goal of utilization of bio-succinic acid for chemicals since succnic acid is a promising bio-based building-block chemical feedstock to replace the current maleic anhydride-C4 platform. Catalytic performance of several ruthenium and palladium based supported bimetallic catalysts, prepared by co-precipitation method, will be reported. A comparison of the bimetallic catalysts with monometallic catalysts with respect to selectivity for gaseous and liquid phase products will also be discussed. Finally, a Langmuir-Hinshwood type kinetic model using one of the best performing catalysts will be established and the correlated interpretation of reaction mechanism will be proposed.