A d-Electron Deficient Ru Single-Atom Catalyst that Increases the Carbon Utilization of Lignin Derivatives for the Production of Green Cyclohexanol and Methanol

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The direct conversion of biomass to biofuels without byproducts is a big challenge. We report the synthesis of a d -electron deficient Ru single-atom catalyst supported on an ordered mesoporous titania/carbon composite (OMTC) to address this. The catalyst demonstrated complete conversion of guaiacol to cyclohexanol and methanol under mild conditions (1 MPa H 2, water as solvent) with exclusive selectivity. Structural and spectroscopic analyses revealed atomically dispersed Ru in the OMTC support, resulting in a d -electron deficiency of 1.30 e, which increased the demethoxylation of the 2-methoxycyclohexanol intermediate during guaiacol hydrodeoxygenation and therefore increased the selectivity to cyclohexanol and methanol. This work highlights a scalable approach to achieving full carbon utilization in the biomass, advancing the development of sustainable biofuels and chemicals.