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The catalytic and radical mechanism for ethanol oxidation to acetic acid.
Journal article

The catalytic and radical mechanism for ethanol oxidation to acetic acid.

  • Mostrou S Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland. jeroen.vanbokhoven@chem.ethz.ch.
  • Nagl A Institute of Material Chemistry, Division Physical Chemistry, TU Wien, Getreidemarkt 9/165, 1060 Wien, Austria.
  • Ranocchiari M Laboratory for Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, WLGA 135, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland.
  • Föttinger K Institute of Material Chemistry, Division Physical Chemistry, TU Wien, Getreidemarkt 9/165, 1060 Wien, Austria.
  • van Bokhoven JA Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland. jeroen.vanbokhoven@chem.ethz.ch and Laboratory for Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, WLGA 135, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland.
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  • 2019-09-10
Published in:
  • Chemical communications (Cambridge, England). - 2019
Materials Chemistry
Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
General Chemistry
Surfaces, Coatings and Films
Metals and Alloys
Ceramics and Composites
Catalysis
English Au/TiO2 is a much-used catalyst for the conversion of ethanol to acetic acid. The proposed mechanism speaks of two essential reaction steps on the catalytic surface. The first is the ethanol to acetaldehyde and the second the acetaldehyde to acetic acid. When operating in the gas phase, acetic acid is usually absent. This work focuses on determining what triggers the second step by comparing the ethanol with acetaldehyde oxidation and the liquid with gas-phase reaction. We propose an updated reaction mechanism: acetaldehyde autoxidises non-catalytically to acetic acid, likely driven by radicals. The requirement for the autoxidation is the presence of oxygen and water in the liquid-phase. The understanding of the interplay between the catalytic ethanol to acetaldehyde and the following non-catalytic reaction step provides guiding principles for the design of new and more selective alcohol oxidation catalysts.
Language
  • English
Open access status
hybrid
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Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/175170
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