Catalytic Synthesis of Sustainable Chemicals: Reaction Exploration

Summary: Over the past decade, fossil-based feedstocks have contributed to 48 Gt CO2 equivalents of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and increased atmospheric CO2 concentration by over 2 ppm per year. The replacement of fossil-based feedstocks would definitely disrupt and transform the current paradigm in fuel and chemical production, paving the way for ultimate sustainability. For this reason, access to reliable, renewable feedstocks and to the technology platform for refining them remains the overarching goal. This is because achieving this goal enables shuffling of carbon and hydrogen atoms through the energy and chemical consumption cycles perpetually. The project aims to discover novel catalytic routes for sustainable synthesis of specialty chemicals and fuels from renewable oxygenates as chemical building blocks. The project emphasizes on finding optimal reaction conditions using the Alcohol-to-Jet Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene pathway for sustainable aviation fuel production.