Monday, May 2, 2011
Grand Ballroom C-D, 2nd fl (Sheraton Seattle)
2,3-Butanediol is one of representative bulk chemicals which are produced by the fermentation of biomass and wastes. Some of favorable properties of 2,3-butanediol provide promising applications. Particularly, due to low freezing point and high octane number, it can be used as an anti-freeze agent and an octane booster. However, the existing market demand for 2,3-butanediol is low, and practical utilization of this chemical has been limited in the industrial world. Therefore, research efforts on the conversion of 2,3-butanediol to value added chemicals are required. Here we demonstrate the catalytic process in which 2,3-butanediol readily undergoes intermolecular reacting over heterogeneous catalysts to form 1,3-butandiene and methyl ethyl ketone. 1,3-Butandiene is a feedstock for the synthetic rubber, and methyl ethyl ketone is a widely used solvent in the manufacture of plastics, textiles and paints. The reaction is carried out in the gas phase, and it facilitates the separation of 1,3-butandiene from other products at the exit of the reactor by simple natural cooling. The heterogeneous catalysts proposed have well-developed mesoporous structure, large surface area and high acidic strength, which leads to high performance.