Gas phase dehydration of 3-hydroxybutanone on orthophosphate catalysts for bio-based production of butenone for a sustainable industrial route to vitamin A

• Published in: Journal of industrial and engineering chemistry (Seoul, Korea) 2020, 88(0), , pp.178-185
• Main Authors: Huchede, M., Lorentz, C., Cardenas, L., Morvan, D., Bellière-Baca, V., Millet, J.M.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3-buten-2-one; 3-hydroxybutanone; Acetoin; Butenone; Catalysis; Chemical Sciences; Dehydration; Environment and Society; Environmental Sciences; Metal oxides catalyst; Methyl vinyl ketone; Orthophosphates; Platform molecule; Rare-earth; 화학공학
• ISSN: 1226-086X; 1876-794X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jiec.2020.04.011

[Display omitted] We report on the catalytic dehydration of 3-hydroxybutanone to butenone (but-3-en-2-one or methyl vinyl ketone), which could become a key step in a new bio-based process for the production of vitamin A. The gas-phase dehydration reaction has been studied with various trivalent orthophosphates under atmospheric pressure, at temperatures ranging between 250 and 350°C. Although FePO4, CePO4, YPO4 and BPO4 are found to be either poorly active, or poorly selective to butanone, the other rare-earth phosphates tested in this study allowed higher butanone yields to be obtained than has been previously reported. We show that the catalytic properties of these compounds depend on the nature of the rare-earth element. The most promising results are obtained with LaPO4, which is characterized by a 93% selectivity to butenone at 92% conversion. The catalytic activity and selectivity of the most efficient catalysts are discussed in terms of their surface acidity and basicity.