KSEF RDE: Catalytic Hydrogenation and Hydrogenolysis of Carbon-Oxygen Bonds

Biomass carbohydrates are the most abundant renewable resources available, and are a potentially competitive feedstock (with non-renewable fossil resources, such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum) for energy and chemicals production. However, because molecules derived from carbohydrate polymers, such as cellulose and hemicellu1oses, are generally characterized by an abundance of reactive oxygen functional groups, new chemistries must be developed for selectively reducing their oxygen content so that they can be integrated into the existing energy and chemical production streams. There are currently very few catalyst systems that are efficient at selectively (deoxygenating) reducing the oxygen content of carbohydrate biomass-derived molecules, such as sugars, furan derivatives, and polyalcohols; a catalyst can speed up a chemical reaction that may otherwise be too slow to be useful and hence may impart selectivity in chemical reactions.