Catalytic refining of bio-oil by reacting with olefin/alcohol over solid acids can convert bio-oil to oxygen-containing fuels. Reactivities of groups of compounds typically present in bio-oil with 1-octene (or 1-butanol) were studied at 120 °C/3 h over Dowex50WX2, Amberlyst15, Amberlyst36, silica sulfuric acid (SSA) and Cs2.5H0.5PW12O40 supported on K10 clay (Cs2.5/K10, 30 wt. %). These compoun...

A computational investigation has been carried out to elucidate the origin of the exclusive exo-selectivity in the Pd-catalyzed cyanoesterification of strained cyclic olefins, norbornene and norbornadiene. A hybrid density functional was selected for the level of theory with a triple-ζ quality basis set, which was proposed in an earlier study to provide an experimentally sound ground state elec...

Enzymes from Salvia officinalis, capable of catalyzing the electrophilic isomerization and subsequent cyclization of geranyl pyrophosphate (3,8-dimethylocta-2E,6-dienyl pyrophosphate) to the monoterpenes (+)-alpha-pinene and (+)-bornyl pyrophosphate, were examined with a series of substrate analogs modified in carbon chain length and in the geometric and electronic character of the C2-C3 and C6...

Insights into the mechanism of the unusual trans-hydrogenation of internal alkynes catalyzed by {Cp*Ru} complexes were gained by para-hydrogen (p-H2 ) induced polarization (PHIP) transfer NMR spectroscopy. It was found that the productive trans-reduction competes with a pathway in which both H atoms of H2 are delivered to a single alkyne C atom of the substrate while the second alkyne C atom is...