A d-Electron Deficient Ru Single-Atom Catalyst that Increases the Carbon Utilization of Lignin Derivatives for the Production of Green Cyclohexanol and Methanol

The direct conversion of biomass to biofuels without byproducts is a big challenge. We report the synthesis of a d-electron deficient Ru single-atom catalyst supported on an ordered mesoporous titania/carbon composite (OMTC) to address this. The catalyst demonstrated complete conversion of guaiacol to cyclohexanol and methanol under mild conditions (1 MPa H2, water as solvent) with exclusive selectivity. Structural and spectroscopic analyses revealed atomically dispersed Ru in the OMTC support, resulting in a d-electron deficiency of 1.30 e, which increased the demethoxylation of the 2-methoxycyclohexanol intermediate during guaiacol hydrodeoxygenation and therefore increased the selectivity to cyclohexanol and methanol. This work highlights a scalable approach to achieving full carbon utilization in the biomass, advancing the development of sustainable biofuels and chemicals.