Understanding of the Key Factors Determining the Activity and Selectivity of CuZn Catalysts in Hydrogenolysis of Alkyl Esters to Alcohols

CuZn catalysts are perspective catalysts for esters hydrogenolysis, but more knowledge is needed to optimize their catalytic performance. In this work, we consider the impact of CuZn catalysts composition on their structure, activity, selectivity, and stability in esters hydrogenolysis. Four catalysts with various Cu/Zn ratio were synthesized by a co-precipitation and characterized in as-prepared, calcined, reduced, and spent state by XRF, XRD, N2 physisorption, CO2-TPD, NH3-TPD, and N2O chemisorption. XRD data revealed the effect of the composition on the size of Cu and ZnO particles. The catalytic performance was investigated using an autoclave. All catalysts exhibited high methyl hexanoate conversion about 48–60% after 3 h but their activity and selectivity were found to be dependent on Cu/Zn ratio. The conversion of methyl hexanoate and hexyl hexanoate was compared to explain the observed product selectivity. Moreover, the catalysts stability was investigated in three consecutive reaction cycles and correlated with changes in the size of constituent particles. Moreover, when different esters were tested, a slight decrease in conversion and increase in alcohol selectivity with a growth in molecule size was observed. Obtained results allow making a conclusion about the optimal composition that provides the good performance of CuZn catalysts in ester hydrogenolysis.