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 Al2O3, La2O3 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 (NH3-TPD), hydrogen temperature programmed reduction (H2-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/La2O3/Al2O3/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 Al2O3 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 La2O3 to Cu/SBA-15-Al2O3 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/La2O3/Al2O3/SBA-15 was explored.