A Heterogeneous Catalyst for the Transformation of Fatty Acids to α-Olefins

Anamitra Chatterjee and Vidar R. Jensen^*

Department of Chemistry, University of Bergen, Allégaten 41, N-5007 Bergen, Norway

ACS Catal., 2017, 7, pp 2543–2547

DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.6b03460

Publication Date (Web): February 28, 2017

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscatal.6b03460

Abstract

Heterogeneous catalysts have so far not been very efficient [turnover frequency (TOF) < 19 h^–1] or very selective (≤60%) for α-olefin formation in deoxygenation of fatty acids. Here we report more than 20-fold higher activity (TOF = 420 h^–1) and high selectivity (>95%) for one such deoxygenation, decarbonylative dehydration, by using a heterogeneous Pd/C catalyst in the presence of phosphine ligands. The process is solvent free, allows for catalyst recycling, and does not require in situ distillation of the product to maintain high selectivity.