Research progress and future prospect on catalysts for stepwise hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate

Abstract

In recent years, energy crisis environmental problems have attracted more and more attention. Considering the shortage of oil resources and abundant coal resources in the earth’s crust, we need to find a feasible and efficient way in the coal chemical industry. Numerous studies have shown that dimethyl oxalate produced by gas-phase CO coupling reaction can be selectively hydrogenated to methyl glycolate and deeply hydrogenated to ethylene glycol and ethanol. This paper introduces the research progress of the catalyst in the stepwise conversion process of dimethyl oxalate hydrogenation. The research progress of active sites and structure-activity relationship of each catalyst was emphasized, and the active sites and reaction conditions of the three products were summarized. In addition, the direction of future catalyst design is suggested.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

dimethyl oxalate / methyl glycolate / ethylene glycol / ethanol / hydrogenation

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