Cu active sites confined in MgAl layered double hydroxide for hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to ethanol

The dimethyl oxalate (DMO) hydrogenation reaction is the key step of indirect synthesis of C 2 -C 4 oxygenates (e.g., ethanol) from syngas. Copper-based catalysts have been extensively explored for DMO hydrogenation. However, the unstable copper active sites induced by metal-particle growth at high rection temperatures (e.g., > 553 K) is an impediment to the stable performance. Herein, we report a facile co-precipitation method to confine Cu active sites in the layered double hydroxide for the hydrogenation of DMO to ethanol. The effects of Mg/Al molar ratio on the catalytic performance were systematically investigated to get insights into the structure-activity relationship. The results indicate that the CuMgAl-LDH-1.25 catalyst possesses regular lamellar structures, highly dispersed Cu active sites, and moderate acidic sites, which synergistically achieves a stable performance with a DMO conversion of ca. 100 % and ethanol selectivity exceeding 83 % at 553 K, 3 MPa.