Issue 3, 2012

Aromatic hydrogenation of benzyl alcohol and its derivatives using compressed CO2/water as the solvent

Abstract

A green approach to the aromatic hydrogenation of benzyl alcohol and its derivatives to produce cyclohexanemethanol was demonstrated in this report. In this work, the hydrogenation reactions were carried using neat, CO2-expanded liquid (CXL), water and compressed CO2/water, as the solvents. It was found out that using water as the solvent achieved the highest yield of the hydrogenation product (>96%). On the other hand, using the compressed CO2/water system as the solvent significantly enhanced the reaction rate (only 1/5 of the reaction time needed for total conversion when compared to reactions in water) while still maintained high product yield (>90%). It is believed that CO2 molecules dissolved in water could form carbonic acid simultaneously and the acid was proved to act as a promoter throughout the reaction.

Graphical abstract: Aromatic hydrogenation of benzyl alcohol and its derivatives using compressed CO2/water as the solvent

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Aug 2011
Accepted
24 Nov 2011
First published
12 Jan 2012

Green Chem., 2012,14, 682-687

Aromatic hydrogenation of benzyl alcohol and its derivatives using compressed CO2/water as the solvent

H. Lin, C. H. Yen and C. Tan, Green Chem., 2012, 14, 682 DOI: 10.1039/C2GC15999F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements