Catalytic performance of Raney Ni in the hydrogenation of di-furfural-acetone for producing long-chain alkane precursors

The hydrogenation of di-furfural-acetone for producing long-chain alkane precursors was carried out over Raney Ni catalyst; the effects of reaction temperature, pressure and time on the product distribution were investigated. The results indicated that Raney Ni exhibits excellent catalytic performance at low temperature. The hydrogenation can be enhanced by increasing temperature and pressure; at 50℃, 2.5 MPa and after 2 h reaction, the di-furfural-acetone is completely converted with 80.8% of the selectivity to the saturated hydrogenated products. However, excessive high temperature may be harmful to the hydrogenation. It was found that the hydrogenation activity towards three double bonds in di-furfural-acetone follows the order of ethylenic bond > furan ring double bond > C=O. Various solvents (water, methanol, tetrahydrofuran and cyclohexane) are also different in their effects on the catalytic performance; Raney Ni exhibits much higher hydrogenation activity in methanol than in other solvents.