Liquid-Phase H-Transfer from 2-Propanol to Phenol on Raney Ni: Surface Processes and Inhibition

Raney Ni is perhaps the most widely used catalyst for the transformation of biogenic molecules in industrial practice (e.g., as in the production of sugar alcohols and hardening of vegetable oils). Currently, Raney Ni has found another key application; the catalytic upstream biorefining (CUB) of lignocellulose in which the soluble products released from the lignocellulosic matrix undergo reductive processes, rendering depolymerized lignin oils in addition to high-quality holocellulosic pulps. Despite the industrial importance of Raney Ni, its surface chemistry is poorly understood. In this study, using the H-transfer reaction between 2-propanol (2-PrOH) and phenol as a model reaction, we studied the influence of various alcohols on the catalytic performance of Raney Ni. For the H-transfer hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanol, the inhibition of the catalyst increases in the order of secondary alcohols < primary alcohols < polyols at 130 °C. To better understand the observed inhibition, we also studied t...