A Highly Dispersed Copper Nanoparticles Catalyst with a Large Number of Weak Acid Centers for Efficiently Synthesizing the High Value-Added 3-Methylindole by Aniline and Biomass-Derived Glycerin

An excellent catalyst with a large number of weak acid centers and highly dispersed copper nanoparticles embedded in mesoporous SBA-15 carrier was successfully constructed for the purpose of efficient conversion of aniline with biomass-derived glycerin to the high value-added 3-methylindole, in which the catalyst of Cu/SBA-15 was modified with Al 2 O 3 , La 2 O 3 and CoO in sequence. The modified carrier and the copper-based catalysts were studied by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM–EDX) spectroscopy, nitrogen physical adsorption, ammonia temperature programmed desorption (NH 3 -TPD), hydrogen temperature programmed reduction (H 2 -TPR), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) emission spectroscopy. The research found that the Cu/CoO/La 2 O 3 /Al 2 O 3 /SBA-15 catalyst exhibited a very good catalytic performance with 3-methylindole yield up to 73.3% and selectivity reaching 86.4%. Besides, only a 3.9% yield decreased after the catalyst was circulated seven times. The characterizations revealed that Al 2 O 3 could enhance the polarity of the carrier, thereby the interaction between the active component and the composite carrier was strengthened and the dispersion of copper was increased significantly. Adding La 2 O 3 to Cu/SBA-15-Al 2 O 3 could weaken the acidity and inhibit the formation of carbon deposits. CoO promoter could increase the number of weak acid centers, which was conducive to a good dispersion of active component and the high selectivity of 3-methylindole. Furthermore, the reaction pathway of gas-phase synthesis of 3-methylindole from glycerin and aniline on Cu/CoO/La 2 O 3 /Al 2 O 3 /SBA-15 was explored. Graphic Abstract