Production of Hydrocarbons via Hydrodeoxygenation of Lignin-Derived Phenolic Compounds

Lignin is the component with the highest carbon content in biomass. The transformation of lignin to high-grade liquid fuels can be achieved via hydrodeoxygenation(HDO) of phenolic intermediates derived from the products of lignin depolymerization. The octane numbers of the hydrodeoxygenation products of phenolic intermediates are quite high. They have vapor pressures and carbon atom number (C6 similar to C10) within the range of gasoline. Thus, these hydrodeoxygenation products would be the most desirable components for a fungible liquid transportation fuel. This is very meaningful to application of lignin. Recently, researches about the hydrodeoxygenation of phenolic compounds develop rapidly. In this paper, the HDO reactions of phenolic compounds using sulfided Mo-based catalyst, noble metal catalyst and inexpensive non-sulfided catalyst are reviewed in detail. It is found that most of the investigated catalysts are bifunctional catalysts, combining the hydrogenation function of active metal with hydrolysis and dehydration of support. The catalytic mechanism for the HDO of phenolic compounds is sketched, and the effects of catalyst supporter on the catalytic activity are also discussed. Furthermore, the current technique challenges are summarized, and future technologic explorations for the efficient hydrodeoxygenation of lignin-derived phenolic compounds are proposed.