Selective hydroconversion of coconut oil-derived lauric acid to alcohol and aliphatic alkane over MoO -modified Ru catalysts under mild conditions.

Molybdenum oxide-modified ruthenium on titanium oxide (Ru-()MoO /TiO; is the loading amount of Mo) catalysts show high activity for the hydroconversion of carboxylic acids to the corresponding alcohols (fatty alcohols) and aliphatic alkanes (biofuels) in 2-propanol/water (4.0/1.0 v/v) solvent in a batch reactor under mild reaction conditions. Among the Ru-()MoO /TiO catalysts tested, the Ru-(0.026)MoO /TiO (Mo loading amount of 0.026 mmol g) catalyst shows the highest yield of aliphatic -alkanes from hydroconversion of coconut oil derived lauric acid and various aliphatic fatty acid C6-C18 precursors at 170-230 °C, 30-40 bar for 7-20 h. Over Ru-(0.026)MoO /TiO, as the best catalyst, the hydroconversion of lauric acid at lower reaction temperatures (130 ≥ ≤ 150 °C) produced dodecane-1-ol and dodecyl dodecanoate as the result of further esterification of lauric acid and the corresponding alcohols. An increase in reaction temperature up to 230 °C significantly enhanced the degree of hydrodeoxygenation of lauric acid and produced -dodecane with maximum yield (up to 80%) at 230 °C, H 40 bar for 7 h. Notably, the reusability of the Ru-(0.026)MoO /TiO catalyst is slightly limited by the aggregation of Ru nanoparticles and the collapse of the catalyst structure.