Cu Sub-Nanoparticles on Cu/CeO₂ as an Effective Catalyst for Methanol Synthesis from Organic Carbonate by Hydrogenation

Cu/CeO₂ works as an effective heterogeneous catalyst for hydrogenation of dimethyl carbonate to methanol at 433 K and even at low H₂ pressure of 2.5 MPa, and it provided 94% and 98% methanol yield based on the carbonyl and total produced methanol, respectively. This is the first report of high yield synthesis of methanol from DMC by hydrogenation with H₂ over heterogeneous catalysts. Characterization of the Cu/CeO₂ catalyst demonstrated that reduction of Cu/CeO₂ produced Cu metal with <1.0 nm (subnanoparticles). Cu metal subnanoparticles are easily formed by the interaction with the CeO₂ surface, which is responsible for the high catalytic performance.