Synthesis of renewable diesel with the 2-methylfuran, butanal and acetone derived from lignocellulose

In this work, the hydroxyalkylation/alkylation of 2-methylfuran (2-MF) with acetone and butanal was investigated over a series of solid acid catalysts. Among the investigated candidates, Nafion-212 resin demonstrated the highest activity and stability for both reactions. Butanal is more reactive than acetone in hydroxyalkylation/alkylation, which can be rationalized by the steric and electronic effects of alkyl group. Finally, the hydroxyalkylation/alkylation products as prepared were directly hydrodeoxygenated over Pd/C, Pt/C and Ni-WxC/C catalysts. Evidently higher carbon yields to diesel were obtained when hydroxyalkylation/alkylation product of 2-MF with butanal was used as the feedstock. This can be considered as another advantage of 2-MF–butanal route. It is interesting that Ni-WxC/C catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic performance and good stability in the hydrodeoxygenation of hydroxyalkylation/alkylation products, which made it a promising substitute for the noble metal catalysts.