Hydrogenolysis of glycerol over Pt/C catalyst in combination with alkali metal hydroxides

The hydrogenolysis of glycerol was performed over a Pt/C catalyst in combination with several alkali metal hydroxides and their salts. LiOH was found to be an effective promoter for the selective hydrogenolysis of glycerol to 1,2-propanediol. Hydroxyl ions are the main factor to promote the reaction process by dehydration of the glyceraldehyde intermediate. Lithium ions play a role in assisting the dehydrogenation of glycerol to glyceraldehyde, because they have the right size to coordinate with the alkoxide species. A possible surface reaction mechanism involving the participation of lithium ions was proposed to account for the results obtained in the study.