Hydrogenolysis of glycerol catalyzed by Ru-Cu bimetallic catalysts supported on clay with the aid of ionic liquids

Glycerol is a well-known renewable chemical, and its effective transformation to valuable chemicals accords well with the principles of green chemistry. In this work, a series of Ru-Cu bimetallic catalysts were prepared using cheap and abundant clay, bentonite, as the support. Bentonite was modified with a functional ionic liquid 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinium lactate (TMGL) in an attempt to develop highly efficient catalysts. Hydrogenolysis of aqueous solution of glycerol was performed with the immobilized Ru-Cu catalyst under temperatures of 190–240 °C and pressures of 2.5–10 MPa. The bimetallic catalysts were very efficient for promoting the hydrogenolysis of glycerol. 100% of glycerol conversion and 85% yield of 1,2-propanediol could be achieved at 230 °C and 8 MPa. The conversion of glycerol and the selectivity to 1,2-propanediol did not decrease after the catalyst was used 5 times. TMGL played a crucial role in fabricating the new catalysts. The catalysts were characterized by FT-IR, XPS, SEM and TEM, and the reasons for the excellent performances of the catalyst were also discussed.