Molybdenum Oxide-Modified Iridium Catalysts for Selective Production of Renewable Oils for Jet and Diesel Fuels and Lubricants

Supported inverse metal–metal oxide catalysts have received significant research interest owing to their effective hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) activity toward biomass substrates, but the high cost of the reported catalysts poses a challenge for commercialization. We present the synthesis of a series of metal–metal oxide catalysts, Ir–MOx/SiO2 (M = Re, Mo, W, V, or Nb) and M′–MoOx/SiO2 (M = Rh, Ru, Pt, or Pd) and their HDO performance on multifuran (high carbon) substrates to produce renewable jet and diesel fuels and lubricant base oils. A MoOx-modified Ir/SiO2 catalyst with a Mo/Ir ratio of 0.13 (Ir–MoOx/SiO2) exhibits the highest product yield (78–96%) under mild reaction conditions. Controlled experiments using probe substrates reveal that furan ring hydrogenation and C–O hydrogenolysis of saturated and unsaturated furan rings occur in a sequential manner. The carbon atom adjacent to the furan or saturated furan ring of substrates or intermediate compounds undergoes slow C–C bond scission, resulting in a ...