Dehydration of 1,5‐Pentanediol over CeO2‐MeOx Catalysts

Abstract The dehydration reaction of 1,5‐pentanediol was performed over CeO 2 and modified CeO 2 (CeO 2 −MnO x , CeO 2 −ZnO, CeO 2 −MgO, CeO 2 −CaO, CeO 2 −Na 2 O) catalysts in a fixed‐bed tubular reactor at 350 °C and an atmospheric pressure. The undoped CeO 2 produced a mixture of the products containing mainly 4‐penten‐1‐ol, 1‐pentanol, cyclopentanol, cyclopentanone and tetrahydropyran‐2‐one from 1,5‐pentanediol, while additions of MgO, MnO x , or ZnO to CeO 2 was found to enhance the overall production rate of unsaturated alcohol. On the other hand, more basic metals like CaO or Na 2 O tend to decline the dehydration activity of CeO 2 . The porous structure of CeO 2 did not change appreciably with the addition of metal oxides. Temperature programmed desorption of adsorbed CO 2 on an activated catalyst suggest more CO 2 remain on the catalyst surface, particularly CeO 2 −CaO and CeO 2 −Na 2 O indicating that fewer defect sites are only available for reaction. The defect sites or oxygen vacancy on CeO 2 controls both activity and selectivity for the dehydration of 1,5‐pentanediol.