Application of Sulfated Tin (IV) Oxide Solid Superacid Catalyst to Partial Coupling Reaction of ?-Pinene to Produce Less Viscous High-Density Fuel

Seong-Min Cho, Chang-Young Hong, Se-Yeong Park, Da-Song Lee, June-Ho Choi, Bonwook Koo and In-Gyu Choi
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Seong-Min Cho: Department of Forest Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Chang-Young Hong: Department of Forest Biomaterials, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Se-Yeong Park: Department of Forest Biomaterials Engineering, College of Forest and Environment Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea
Da-Song Lee: Department of Forest Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
June-Ho Choi: Department of Forest Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Bonwook Koo: Intelligent & Sustainable Materials R&D Group, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), Cheonan 31056, Korea
In-Gyu Choi: Department of Forest Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Brønsted acid-catalyzed reactions of α-pinene have been studied because of their ability to produce various types of fragrance molecules. Beyond this application, dimeric hydrocarbon products produced from coupling reactions of α-pinene have been suggested as renewable high-density fuel molecules. In this context, this paper presents the application of a sulfated tin(IV) oxide catalyst for the partial coupling reaction of α-pinene from turpentine. Brønsted acid sites inherent in this solid superacid catalyst calcined at 550 °C successfully catalyzed the reaction, giving the largest yield of dimeric products (49.6%) at 120 °C over a reaction time of 4 h. Given that the low-temperature viscosity of the mentioned dimeric products is too high for their use as a fuel in transportation engines, lowering the viscosity is an important avenue of study. Therefore, our partial coupling reaction of α-pinene provides a possible solution as a considerable amount of the isomers of α-pinene still remained after the reaction, which reduces the low-temperature viscosity. On the basis of a comparison of the reaction products, a plausible mechanism for the reaction involving coinstantaneous isomerization and coupling reaction of α-pinene was elucidated.

Keywords: solid superacid catalyst; sulfated tin(IV) oxide; ?-pinene partial coupling; renewable high-density fuel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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