Abstract
Isotopic tracer studies of alcohol synthesis pathways using 13CO/H2/12CH3OH mixtures have shown that ethanol is formed predominantly by direct reactions of 13CO on Cu0.5Mg5CeOx promoted with K at short residence times, without significant involvement of the 12CH3OH present in the feed. The observed decrease in 13C content in ethanol with increasing residence time is caused by reverse aldol reactions of higher alcohols, which contain lower 13C contents because of the significant involvement of 12CH3OH in their formation, and by reactions of methyl formate with 12CH3OH-derived species. The effects of residence time on the 13C distribution within reaction products and on the rates of formation of ethanol, methyl formate, and methyl acetate are consistent with the intermediate role of methyl formate and methyl acetate in ethanol formation.
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Xu, M., Iglesia, E. Initial carbon–carbon bond formation during synthesis gas conversion to higher alcohols on K–Cu–Mg5CeOx catalysts. Catalysis Letters 51, 47–52 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019016513428
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019016513428