Ruthenium and palladium nanocatalysts in water for selective hydrogenation. Scaling up the processes in terpenic renewables chemistry
Résumé
Hydrogenation reactions of biomass terpene derivatives constitute great chemical transformations, leading to key platform molecules for the production of high added value fine chemicals, such as citronellal of Florsantol (R), (R), for fragrances industries. One of the main challenges remains the high selectivity control to avoid the formation of co-products that could alter the quality of the follow-up products. For that purpose, metal nanoparticles are considered as unavoidable catalytic tools owing to their surface reactivity properties and their potential recycling under adapted conditions. Herein, we report the use of aqueous suspensions of ruthenium and palladium nanoparticles as relevant catalysts for the industrial transformation of terpenic agro-resources into value-added renewable perfume ingredients. First, alpha-pinene could selectively be hydrogenated into cis- pinane using ruthenium nanoparticles, while palladium is relevant to produce citronellal through the selective reduction of the conjugated double bond of citral as well as Florsantol (R) (R) by the controlled ring opening of the corresponding epoxide. Interestingly, all these processes have been scaled-up, thus demonstrating the potential of reusable metallic nanocatalysts in water for industrial applications.