Selective production of renewable para-xylene via tungsten carbide-catalyzed atom-economic cascade reactions.

Tungsten carbide was employed as the catalyst in an atom-economic and renewable synthesis of para-xylene with excellent selectivity and yield from 4-methyl-3-cyclohexene-1-carbonylaldehyde (4-MCHCA). This intermediate is the product of the Diels-Alder reaction between the two readily available bio-based building blocks acrolein and isoprene. Our results suggest that 4-MCHCA undergoes a novel dehydroaromatization-hydrodeoxygenation cascade process by intramolecular hydrogen transfer that does not involve an external hydrogen source, and that the hydrodeoxygenation occurs through the direct dissociation of the C=O bond on the W2C surface. Notably, this process is readily applicable to the synthesis of various (multi)methylated arenes from bio-based building blocks, thus potentially providing a petroleum-independent solution to valuable aromatic compounds.