Dimerisation of ethanol to butanol over solid-base catalysts Original Research Article

Ethanol is converted into 1-butanol over alkali earth metal oxides and modified MgO catalysts (1–20% yield). The MgO catalyst exhibits the highest reaction activity and 1-butanol selectivity amongst the catalysts studied. Reaction of various intermediates (acetaldehde, crotonaldehyde, crotylalcohol, butanal) and butanol over MgO (1 bar, 450 °C) revealed that the dimerisation reaction does not proceed primarily through the aldol condensation reaction. The reaction is proposed to proceed through a mechanism (Yang and Meng) in which a CH bond in the β-position in ethanol is activated by the basic metal oxide, and condenses with another molecule of ethanol by dehydration to form 1-butanol.