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Meeting of the Spanish Catalysis Society (SECAT’17)

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2017) | Viewed by 29673

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Prof. Dr. Salvador Ordóñez García

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
Interests: heterogeneous catalysis; chemical reactors; biomass; hydrodechlorination; oxidation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Eva Díaz

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Guest Editor

Department Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
Interests: adsorption; catalysts; biomass; heterogeneous catalysis; new materials (micro- and mesoporous ones)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In 1835, Berzelius defined “catalysis”, from the Greek words kata, meaning down, and lyein, meaning loosen, as “the property of exerting on other bodies an action which is very different from chemical affinity. By means of this action, they produce decomposition in bodies, and form new compounds into the composition of which they do not enter”, this discipline has accumulated an increasing amount of experimental data and applied processes, which is, nowadays, continuously increasing.

The advances in research and its applications in different industries is still growing as of this moment. Thus, the selected theme for the congress “Catalysis for a more sustainable world”, tries to bring together different aspects of catalytic processes, from the preparation and characterization of catalysts to the design and simulation of catalytic reactors, both conventional and unconventional. Special emphasis will be placed on the development of catalysts and catalytic reactors for the development of more sustainable chemical processes, as well as for solving environmental problems. It is also intended to extend the contents of this congress to other types of catalysis, such as homogeneous catalysis, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, biocatalysis, etc.

This Special Issue of Molecules, on the same topic as the conference, welcomes the submission of previously unpublished manuscripts, from original work on all the above-mentioned aspects. We plan to receive submissions from 30 June, 2017 to 30 September, 2017.

For more details on SECAT’17, please visit: http://www.secat17.com/en/

Prof. Dr. Salvador Ordóñez
Prof. Dr. Eva Díaz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

6466 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Microemulsion and Sol-Gel Synthesized ZrO₂-MgO Catalysts for the Liquid-Phase Dehydration of Xylose to Furfural

by Almudena Parejas, Vicente Montes, Jesús Hidalgo-Carrillo, Elena Sánchez-López, Alberto Marinas and Francisco J. Urbano

Molecules 2017, 22(12), 2257; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22122257 - 18 Dec 2017

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4690

Abstract

Two series of catalysts were prepared by sol-gel and microemulsion synthetic procedure (SG and ME, respectively). Each series includes both pure Mg and Zr solids as well as Mg-Zr mixed solids with 25%, 50% and 75% nominal Zr content. The whole set of catalysts was characterized from thermal, structural and surface chemical points of view and subsequently applied to the liquid-phase xylose dehydration to furfural. Reactions were carried out in either a high-pressure autoclave or in an atmospheric pressure multi-reactor under a biphasic (organic/water) reaction mixture. Butan-2-ol and toluene were essayed as organic solvents. Catalysts prepared by microemulsion retained part of the surfactant used in the synthetic procedure, mainly associated with the Zr part of the solid. The MgZr-SG solid presented the highest surface acidity while the Mg3Zr-SG one exhibited the highest surface basicity among mixed systems. Xylose dehydration in the high-pressure system and with toluene/water solvent mixture led to the highest furfural yield. Moreover, the yield of furfural increases with the Zr content of the catalyst. Therefore, the catalysts constituted of pure ZrO₂ (especially Zr-SG) are the most suitable to carry out the process under study although MgZr mixed solids could be also suitable for overall processes with additional reaction steps. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Meeting of the Spanish Catalysis Society (SECAT’17))

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2802 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis of TiO₂ with Hierarchical Porosity for the Photooxidation of Propene

by Javier Fernández-Catalá, Laura Cano-Casanova, María Ángeles Lillo-Ródenas, Ángel Berenguer-Murcia and Diego Cazorla-Amorós

Molecules 2017, 22(12), 2243; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22122243 - 16 Dec 2017

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4302

Abstract

The elimination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at low concentration is a subject of great interest because these compounds are very harmful for the environment and human health. In this work, we have developed a synthesis methodology of TiO₂ that allows obtaining meso-macroporous materials with hierarchical porosity and with high thermal stability for their application as photocatalysts in the removal of VOCs, specifically propene. The materials synthesized in this work were characterized by Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TG), and nitrogen adsorption. It is observed that the samples calcined at 250 °C and 500 °C present a high photoactivity for the photooxidation of propene, which is similar to the benchmark material P25 (commercial TiO₂). Moreover, the textural properties are better than those for P25, indicating that the samples are interesting for the preparation of photocatalysts with different conformations, such as in the form of coatings and fillings in different size scales. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Meeting of the Spanish Catalysis Society (SECAT’17))

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1767 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sulfonic Acid Functionalization of Different Zeolites and Their Use as Catalysts in the Microwave-Assisted Etherification of Glycerol with tert-Butyl Alcohol

by Rafael Estevez, Ivan Iglesias, Diego Luna and Felipa M. Bautista

Molecules 2017, 22(12), 2206; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22122206 - 12 Dec 2017

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 5304

Abstract

The etherification of glycerol with tert-butyl alcohol in the liquid phase, over different sulfonic acid functionalized zeolites, has been studied. The reaction was carried out using microwaves as a way of heating, measured at autogenous pressure and without any solvent. Dealuminated HY and HZSM-5 zeolites by acid treatment were functionalized with two different organosilica precursors: 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (M), which incorporates thiol groups, and 2-(4-chlorosulfonylphenyl)ethyltrimethoxysilane (C), which incorporates the sulfonic acid groups directly. The thiol groups were oxidized into sulfonic groups employing hydrogen peroxide. The textural and structural properties of the solids were studied by XRD and N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms, whereas the incorporation of the organosilica in the zeolites was studied by TGA and XPS. The novelty functionalization of M gave rise to solids with the highest acidity, and exhibited the highest yields with more substituted ethers (Y_h-GTBE = 13%), at 75 °C and 15 min of reaction time. In addition to the acidity, the textural properties of the zeolites played an important role in their activity; HY, with the largest size of the channels, were more active than the HZSM-5. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Meeting of the Spanish Catalysis Society (SECAT’17))

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819 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coumarin Derivatives Solvent-Free Synthesis under Microwave Irradiation over Heterogeneous Solid Catalysts

by Souad Bouasla, Juan Amaro-Gahete, Dolores Esquivel, M. Isabel López, César Jiménez-Sanchidrián, Mabrouk Teguiche and Francisco J. Romero-Salguero

Molecules 2017, 22(12), 2072; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22122072 - 28 Nov 2017

Cited by 33 | Viewed by 10503

Abstract

A suitable methodology of synthesis of coumarin derivatives by Pechmann reaction over heterogeneous solid acid catalysts in a free solvent media under microwave irradiation is described. Resorcinol, phenol and ethyl acetoacetate were selected as model reactants in the Pechmann condensation. The catalytic activity of several materials—Amberlyst-15, zeolite β and sulfonic acid functionalized hybrid silica—in solvent-free microwave-assisted synthesis of the corresponding coumarin derivatives has been investigated in detail. 7-Hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin and 4-methylcoumarin were obtained in 97% and 43% yields, respectively, over Amberlyst-15. This was the most active catalyst in the Pechmann reaction under studied conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Meeting of the Spanish Catalysis Society (SECAT’17))

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2115 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of Enzymatic Extracts from a CALB Standard Strain as Biocatalyst within the Context of Conventional Biodiesel Production Optimization

by Carlos Luna, Diego Luna, Felipa M. Bautista, Rafael Estevez, Juan Calero, Alejandro Posadillo, Antonio A. Romero and Enrique D. Sancho

Molecules 2017, 22(11), 2025; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22112025 - 21 Nov 2017

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4200

Abstract

The application of biocatalysts in the transesterification process of triglycerides (TG) allows integrating the glycerol in the form of monoglyceride (MG), sharply increasing the yield and the environmental sustainability of the conventional biodiesel production process. This is known as Ecodiesel. To overcome the inconvenient of the high cost of the currently employed highly purified commercial enzymes, the use of scarcely purified extracts obtained from standard strains of the same species of commercial lipases currently applied in this process is being investigated. Thus, Candida antarctica type B (CALB) was chosen to determine the optimal conditions of culture of this yeast. The standard strain was obtained from the Spanish Type Microbial Cultures Collection (CECT) and has been used to carry out several studies to elucidate its optimum growth conditions. Through a process of lyophilization with prior dialysis of the liquid cultures, the enzymatic extracts were obtained. The different obtained cultures have been applied as biocatalysts in the 1,3-selective transesterification reaction of sunflower oil with ethanol to obtain Ecodiesel (FAEE + MG). Selectivity and reaction yields were obtained by gas chromatography. Acceptable yields are obtained during the reaction time as well as in successive reactions, demonstrating the feasibility of using these CALB enzymatic extracts as biocatalysts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Meeting of the Spanish Catalysis Society (SECAT’17))

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