Cobalt-yttrium bimetal catalyzed hydrogenolysis of aryl ethers

Catalytic hydrogenolysis of aryl ethers is a green way to utilize lignin-derived biomass resources or aromatic plastics with ether bonds for producing important chemicals and biofuels, but is also a challenging issue. In this work, we synthesized several cobalt-yttrium bimetallic catalysts via a simple co-precipitation method. One of them with a Co/Y molar ratio of 12/1 could catalyze the reaction with good performances in the absence of a promoter under relatively mild conditions, especially as low as 140 °C. The interaction between Co and Y species contributed to the high activity. The Y species inhibited the reduction of cobalt oxides and enhanced the adsorption capacity of hydrogen. The results of recycling and gram-scale experiments showed the present catalyst possesses great potential for industrial application. The present finding not only builds an efficient Co–Y bimetallic catalyst for hydrogenolysis of aryl ethers emanated from lignin-derived biomass or aromatic plastics with ether bonds, but also widens the application range of the rarely used yttrium metal in catalysis.