Processes for converting a hydrocarbon reactant into an alcohol compound and/or a carbonyl compound are disclosed, and these processes include the steps of irradiating the hydrocarbon reactant and a supported chromium catalyst comprising chromium in a hexavalent oxidation state with a light beam at a wavelength in the UV-visible spectrum to reduce at least a portion of the supported chromium catalyst to form a reduced chromium catalyst, and hydrolyzing the reduced chromium catalyst to form a reaction product comprising the alcohol compound and/or the carbonyl compound. In addition, these processes can further comprise a step of calcining all or a portion of the reduced chromium catalyst to regenerate the supported chromium catalyst.

Processes for converting a hydrocarbon reactant into an alcohol compound and/or a carbonyl compound are disclosed, and these processes include the steps of forming a supported chromium catalyst comprising chromium in a hexavalent oxidation state, irradiating the hydrocarbon reactant and the supported chromium catalyst with a light beam at a wavelength in the UV-visible spectrum to reduce at least a portion of the supported chromium catalyst to form a reduced chromium catalyst, and hydrolyzing the reduced chromium catalyst to form a reaction product comprising the alcohol compound and/or the carbonyl compound. The supported chromium catalyst can be formed by heat treating a supported chromium precursor, contacting a chromium precursor with a solid support while heat treating, or heat treating a solid support and then contacting a chromium precursor with the solid support.

The invention provides a process for the separation of a diol from a product stream. The process includes the steps of: i) separating the product stream comprising three or more C2 to C6 diols, C3 to C6 sugar alcohols, and C4 to C6 polyhydric alcohols with at least 3 hydroxyl groups in the molecule, and a catalyst, to produce a first stream comprising the three or more C2 to C6 diols; ii) separating the first stream comprising the three or more C2 to C6 diols into a) a second stream comprising a first diol and unsaturated hydrocarbons and/or one or more compounds with a carbonyl group and b) a third stream comprising two or more diols; iii) hydrogenating the second stream comprising a first diol and unsaturated hydrocarbons and/or one or more compounds with a carbonyl group to provide a purified diol stream.

The present invention relates to a process for the manufacturing of 3-phenylpropan-1-ol, from nature derived starting material, wherein said nature derived starting material comprises not less than 80 wt.% of cinnamaldehyde. In another aspect, the present invention relates to the process, which further comprises the steps: a) conversion of cinnamaldehyde as starting material to 3-phenylpropan-1-ol by a catalytic hydrogenation; b) optional purification of the 3-phenylpropan-1-ol by alkaline water extraction; c) distillation of 3-phenylpropan-1-ol. In a third aspect the present invention relates to use of 3-phenylpropan-1-ol obtained by the process of the invention in perfumes and/or personal care and/or cleaning products.

A heterogeneous catalyst for substrate-directed hydrogenation includes bimetallic nanoparticles of M.sub.1-M.sub.2, wherein M.sub.1 is a noble metal and M.sub.2 is a first-row transition metal. The bimetallic nanoparticles are on a substrate and atoms of both the noble metal and the first-row transition metal are distributed across surfaces of the bimetallic nanoparticles. The heterogeneous catalyst may be produced by providing M.sub.1-M.sub.2 bimetallic nanoparticles on a substrate to produce an intermediate composition, and performing a reduction process on the intermediate composition such that atoms of both the noble metal (M.sub.1) and the first-row transition metal (M.sub.2) are distributed across surfaces of the bimetallic nanoparticles and thereby form the heterogeneous catalyst. The catalyst may be used for performing directed hydrogenation of a substrate.

Methods for utilizing carbon dioxide to produce multi-carbon products are disclosed. The systems and methods of the present disclosure involve: reducing CO.sub.2 to produce a first product mixture comprising an alcohol product mixture comprising one or more alcohols and a paraffin product mixture comprising one or more paraffins; dehydrating the alcohol product mixture to form an olefin product mixture comprising one or more olefins; oligomerizing the olefin product mixture to form a higher olefin product mixture comprising unsaturated paraffins and optionally aromatics; and reducing the higher olefin product mixture to form a higher hydrocarbon product mixture comprising unsaturated paraffins and optionally aromatics. Catalyst materials and reaction conditions for individual steps are disclosed to optimize yield for ethanol or jet fuel range hydrocarbons.

Provided is a single step process for producing 2-methyltetrahydrofuran from furfuryl alcohol with high conversion rate and high selectivity towards 2-methyltetrahydrofuran.

Provided is a single step process for producing 2-methyltetrahydrofuran from furfuryl alcohol with high conversion rate and high selectivity towards 2-methyltetrahydrofuran.

A method for preparing 1,2-propanediol involves reacting propene with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a catalyst mixture, containing a phase transfer catalyst and a heteropolytungstate, in a liquid reaction mixture containing an aqueous phase with a maximum apparent pH of 6 and an organic phase. The method then involves separating the reaction mixture into an aqueous phase (P.sub.a), containing 1,2-propanediol and phosphoric acid esters of 1,2-propanediol, and an organic phase (P.sub.o). The method further involves recycling at least part of the separated organic phase (P.sub.o) to the reaction; heating at least a part of the separated aqueous phase (P.sub.a) to a temperature of more than 140° C. at a pressure sufficient to maintain at least part of the aqueous phase as a liquid; and recovering 1,2-propanediol from the heated aqueous phase. The heating cleaves phosphoric acid esters of 1,2-propanediol into 1,2-propanediol and phosphoric acid.

The present invention discloses an inventive method for manufacturing a catalyst using alloy granules having a high-Ni content. The inventive method may include providing alloy granules comprising aluminum and nickel, and treating the alloy granules with an alkaline solution to form the catalyst. A content of the nickel in the alloy granules may be within a range of about 43 wt % to about 60 wt %. The alloy granules may have effective diameters within a range of about 1 mm to about 10 mm. The catalyst may have an attrition value of less than about 7.0%.