Application Progress of Ester Hydrogenation Catalysts

Ester hydrogenation is a fresh approach to preparing alcohols or monoesters, which is used to obtain the required specific length of carbon atoms to replace the alcohol molecules to produce the corresponding esters or alcohols by the action of a catalyst, and has various applications in energy, chemical and food industries. The process involves the hydrogenation of the reactant esters to produce alcohols through catalysis. The process has the advantages of mild reaction conditions, few by-products and simple operation. Currently, there are two main approaches to ester-catalyzed hydrogenation: one is the application of noble metal hydrogenation catalysts, which is generally carried out in the air; the other is loaded metal catalysts that control the reaction activity by adjusting the reaction temperature, metal particle size and other factors. This paper reviews and summarizes the current status and problems in the application of these three methods: platinum-based non-homogeneous catalytic hydrogenation, transition metal-loaded catalysts and the application of rare earth metals.