Renewable Alkanes by Aqueous‐Phase Reforming of Biomass‐Derived Oxygenates

Abstract

A clean stream of alkanes from renewable biomass resources is obtained through aqueous-phase reforming in a single reactor. Alkanes are produced from biomass-derived sorbitol through a bifunctional pathway (see scheme) that involves the dehydration of sorbitol on acid sites (SiO2/Al2O3) and hydrogenation of intermediates on a metal catalyst under a H2 atmosphere. Hydrogen is produced from sorbitol and water on the metal catalyst in the same reactor. Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under http://www.wiley-vch.de/contents/jc_2002/2004/z53050_s.pdf or from the author. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.