Cu-CeOx confined by ordered mesoporous carbon for efficient hydrogenation of cyclohexyl acetate

In this study, an ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) was synthesized by coordination induced self-assembly, in which the tannin was used as carbon precursor, Cu 2 + and Ce 3+ cations were as both crosslinking agents and catalyst precursors. The results indicated that the Cu 0 , Cu + and oxygen vacancies were in-situ formed by self-reduction of the nascent CO gas during carbonization, and well-dispersed within the OMC substrate. Moreover, the resulting Cu + species and oxygen vacancies were firmly stabilized in the Cu-CeO x interfaces induced by the strong electronic interaction between Cu 0 and CeO 2 . Simultaneously, the OMC substrate created abundant ordered mesoporous structure to disperse and confine the Cu-CeO x species. The balanced Cu 0 and Cu + species in the Cu-CeO x @OMC catalysts synergistically boosted the hydrogenation of cyclohexyl acetate. Benefited from those, the Cu-CeO x @OMC-550–3 catalyst exhibited the excellent activity and stability for hydrogenation of cyclohexyl acetate into cyclohexanol even without reduction by hydrogen. Specifically, under the optimal reaction conditions of 250 °C, 4 h, 4 MPa H 2 and 50 mg catalyst dosage, the cyclohexyl acetate conversion and selectivities of cyclohexanol and ethanol achieved 95.9 %, 96.6 % and 98.4 %, respectively. Moreover, the catalyst showed no significant changes in structure and activity after five reusing times, delivering robust stability and reusability.