RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Renewable lubricants with tailored molecular architecture
JF Science Advances
JO Sci Adv
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP eaav5487
DO 10.1126/sciadv.aav5487
VO 5
IS 2
A1 Liu, Sibao
A1 Josephson, Tyler R.
A1 Athaley, Abhay
A1 Chen, Qile P.
A1 Norton, Angela
A1 Ierapetritou, Marianthi
A1 Siepmann, J. Ilja
A1 Saha, Basudeb
A1 Vlachos, Dionisios G.
YR 2019
UL http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/2/eaav5487.abstract
AB We present a strategy to synthesize three types of renewable lubricant base oils with up to 90% yield using 2-alkylfurans, derived from nonfood biomass, and aldehydes, produced from natural oils or biomass through three chemistries: hydroxyalkylation/alkylation (HAA), HAA followed by hydrogenation, and HAA followed by hydrodeoxygenation. These molecules consist of (i) furan rings, (ii) saturated furan rings, and (iii) deoxygenated branched alkanes. The structures of these molecules can be tailored in terms of carbon number, branching length, distance between branches, and functional groups. The site-specific, energy-efficient C–C coupling chemistry in oxygenated biomass compounds, unmatched in current refineries, provides tailored structure and tunable properties. Molecular simulation demonstrates the ability to predict properties in agreement with experiments, proving the potential for molecular design.