Reduction
of CuO into Cu with Guaiacol as a Model
Compound of Lignin with a Homogeneous Catalyst of NaOH
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Abstract
The
reduction of CuO with a lignin model compound, guaiacol, is
investigated, to develop a new and green method for both Cu smelting
and the utilization of lignin. The results showed that CuO can be
completely reduced into Cu and guaiacol selectively converted to carboxylic
acids such as fumaric, maleic, acetic, and formic acids at a mild
temperature of 250 °C. The presence of NaOH has a significant
effect on enhancing the reduction of CuO and the selective yield of
carboxylic acids. Two possible reaction pathways were proposed for
the reduction of CuO with guaiacol. One pathway involves the oxidative
decomposition of guaiacol into carboxylic acids. The other reaction
pathway proceeds with the polymerization of guaiacol into oligomers,
which can be reused for CuO reduction due to their easy hydrolyzation
to monomers under hydrothermal conditions