Polyols from Biomass (IMAGE)

Wiley

Polyols from Biomass

Caption

The expense of using precious-metal catalysts is avoided in the high-yielding conversion of cellulose to ethylene glycol (see picture; AC=activated carbon). This process occurs in up to 29 percent yield over a tungsten carbide catalyst, and in up to 61 percent yield when the catalyst is promoted with a small amount of nickel. An attractive feature of this reaction is the low yields of other polyols with respect to ethylene glycol.

Credit

(C) Wiley-VCH 2008

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Permission to use with appropriate credit and link to http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.200803233

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