An In-Situ Self-regeneration Catalyst for the Production of Renewable Penta-1,3-diene.

ABSTRACT

Catalyst deactivation is a problem of great concern for many heterogeneous reactions. Here, an urchin-like LaPO4 catalyst was easily developed for pentane-2,3-diol dehydration; it has an impressive ability to restore the activity in situ by itself during the reaction, accounting for its high stability. This facilitates the efficient production of renewable penta-1,3-diene from pentane-2,3-dione via a novel approach, where penta-2,3-diol was obtained as an intermediate in 95 % yield under mild conditions.