Directing the reaction pathway in the one-pot conversion of cellulose to vicinal diols by controlling bimetallic active sites in Ni-Cu/4ZnO-CNT catalysts

Catalytic conversion of cellulose to diols is an attractive approach in the valorization of biomass, because of the high atom efficiency of the reaction process. The work here highlights the potential of cellulose as a renewable feedstock to produce value-added chemicals, especially vicinal diols. The catalytic conversion of cellulose in water on Ni-Cu/4ZnO-CNT catalyst is discussed, with a focus on four main reaction pathways leading to the formation of C2, C3, C4, and C6 vicinal diols, involving hydrolysis, retro-aldol condensation, hydrogenation, isomerization, dehydrogenation, and thermal side reactions. By modifying the Ni-Cu bimetallic active sites, the pathways can be manipulated, resulting in selective retro-aldol condensation C-C cleavage, leading to a shift towards the selective production of either ethylene glycol (EG) or 1,2-propylene glycol (1,2-PG). Finally, we explore the optimization of reaction conditions to tune product selectivity. This study provides important insight into the catalytic conversion of cellulose and offers promising avenues to produce value-added chemicals from renewable feedstocks.