Junfeng Qian

Cogeneration of biodiesel and nontoxic rapeseed meal from rapeseed through in-situ alkaline transesterification.

In-situ alkaline transesterification of rapeseed oil with methanol for the production of biodiesel and nontoxic rapeseed meal was carried out. Water removal from milled rapeseed by methanol washing was more effective than vacuum drying. The conversion rate of rapeseed oil into FAME was 92%, FAME mass was 8.81 g, glucosinolates content in remaining rapeseed meal was 0.12% by methanol washing, while by vacuum drying the values were 46%, 4.44 g, 0.58%, respectively. In the presence of 0.10 mol/L NaOH in methanol, with methanol/oil molar ratio of 180:1 and a 3h reaction at 40 °C, a conversion rate of 98% was achieved, and the glucosinolates content was reduce to 0.07%, a value which below the GB/T 22514-2008 standard in China. Thus the rapeseed meal can be used as a source of protein in animal feed. The FAME prepared through in-situ alkaline transesterification met the ASTM specifications for biodiesel.

Copper Tetrasulfophthalocyanine Intercalated Hydrotalcite as an Efficient Bifunctional Catalyst for the Baeyer–Villiger Oxidation

A heterogeneous bifunctional hybrid catalyst originated from copper tetrasulfophthalocyanine (CuPcTs) and hydrotalcite for Baeyer–Villiger (B-V) oxidation has been prepared and characterized. XRD, FTIR, DR UV-Vis and SEM characterization indicate that CuPcTs molecule has been successfully intercalated into the layer of ZnAl hydrotalcite. And the synthesized hybrid exhibited excellent catalytic activity in the B-V oxidation for various ketones under mild conditions. Its bifunctional role in the reaction through O2/benzaldehyde has been discussed and verified by controlled experiments. The study indicates that the designed catalyst not only catalyzes the oxidation of benzaldehyde to perbenzoic acid, but also accelerates the transformation of ketone to lactone or ester.Graphical Abstract

Efficient aerobic oxidation of alcohols catalyzed by NiGa hydrotalcites in the absence of any additives

The aerobic oxidation of alcohol catalyzed by NiGa hydrotalcites in the absence of any additives has been studied in detail. The research results revealed that the surface basicity significantly affected the catalytic performance. Moreover, the Bronsted OH basic site on Ni-containing hydrotalcites was suggested to be the key active site and accelerated the oxidation. The catalytic system had good tolerance for various alcohols, and an excellent selectivity of aldehyde could be obtained for the oxidation of primary alcohol. A probable non-radical reaction path for the transformation has been proposed according to the catalytic results, isotope labelling experiments and Hammett experiments.

Aerobic Oxidation of Alcohols to Carbonyl Compounds Catalyzed by N-Hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) Combined with CoTPP-Zn2Al-LDH

AbstractA catalytic system for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols by N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) combined with cobalt porphyrin intercalated heterogeneous hybrid catalyst (CoTPP-Zn 2Al-LDH) has been developed. The results showed that this catalytic system can effectively catalyze the oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds. And the hybrid catalyst can be reused for five times with no appreciable reduction of activity. Graphical AbstractA facile and efficient method for the epoxidation of alkenes in the presence of catalytic amount of Co (III) complex supported on Fe3O4/SiO2 NPs is reported. Catalyst was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, powder x-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy.