Controlling the reaction network of Ni/silica derived conversion of bio-oil surrogate guaiacol

Replacing fossil carbon sources with green bio-oils is a promising route to switch to a sustainable chemical in-dustry, although their high oxygen contents are challenging. Catalytic hydrodeoxygenation is a favored route to upgrade bio-oils to renewable fuels and basic chemicals. In this work, we investigated Ni/SiO2 catalysts with differing metal dispersity in continuous mode conversion of guaiacol with a statistical experimental design for 250 degrees C to 400 degrees C, 2 h up to 5 h time on stream (ToS) and subsequently different residence time besides other parameters. While low temperature (250 degrees C) promotes cyclohexanol formation from guaiacol, high temperature (400 degrees C) inhibits hydrogenation, leading to phenol and methane. For medium temperature (340 degrees C), the selectivity for cyclohexanone increases. Cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone (KA-oil) are the industrial basis for polyamide 6. Furthermore, we clarified the role of 2-methoxycyclohexanol (2MC) in the reaction network to-wards KA-oil for continuous-mode operation. Statistical analysis was used to predict and optimize product selectivity and yield, leading to the best yield of cyclohexanone/-ol at 327.5 degrees C, low ToS, medium residence time, high particle dispersity, and medium hydrogen pressure (15 bar(g)).