Selective conversion of coconut oil to fatty alcohols in methanol over a hydrothermally prepared Cu/SiO2 catalyst without extraneous hydrogen
A novel one-pot approach selects a hydrothermally synthesized Cu/SiO2 catalyst (consisting of Cu2O·SiO2 and Cu0 surface species) to convert of coconut oil to fatty alcohols at 240 °C in methanol without hydrogen, attaining 85% conversion and 100% selectivity.