Deoxydehydration of polyols by a dioxo-molybdenum complex.

by Tran, Randy; Kilyanek, Stefan M.

The deoxydehydration (DODH) of polyols is an attractive method to produce carbon-based chem. feedstocks and fuels including alkenes and dienes from renewable carbohydrate sources. DODH uses stoichiometric reductants to afford catalytic turnover. DODH has been studied for a variety of systems including Re, Mo, and V and can be afforded with a variety of reductants including phosphines, secondary alcs., elemental reductants (C, H2, and Zn), and sulfite. Process scale applications of DODH are limited by the use of high temps. and harsh reductants. The research presented here explores the reductant and diol scope and a kinetic study for the DODH reaction of a dioxo(pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylato) (hexamethylphosphoramide)molybdenum(VI) catalyst.