Catalysis

Yield (engineering)

Metallurgy

Materials science

Syngas

Inorganic chemistry

Thermodynamics

Hydrogen

Physics

Organic chemistry

Oxalate

Ambient pressure

Ethylene

Chemistry

Ethylene glycol

Copper

Science

Bulk chemicals such as ethylene glycol (EG) can be industrially synthesized from either ethylene or syngas, but the latter undergoes a bottleneck reaction and requires high hydrogen pressures. We show that fullerene (exemplified by C60) can act as an electron buffer for a copper-silica catalyst (Cu/SiO2). Hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate over a C60-Cu/SiO2 catalyst at ambient pressure and temperatures of 180° to 190°C had an EG yield of up to 98 ± 1%. In a kilogram-scale reaction, no deactivation of the catalyst was seen after 1000 hours. This mild route for the final step toward EG can be combined with the already-industrialized ambient reaction from syngas to the intermediate of dimethyl oxalate.

Ambient-pressure synthesis of ethylene glycol catalyzed by C <sub>60</sub> -buffered Cu/SiO <sub>2</sub>

Ambient-pressure synthesis of ethylene glycol catalyzed by C 60 -buffered Cu/SiO 2

Ambient-pressure synthesis of ethylene glycol catalyzed by C ₆₀ -buffered Cu/SiO ₂