The review is devoted to generalization and comparative analysis of recent literature data on the conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol, dimethyl ether and hydrocarbons С2+, including olefins, by catalytic hydrogenation. The main ways for achieving high activity and selectivity of such processes were shown to be the deliberate design of catalysts and the selection of conditions for hydrogenation processes, particularly with the use of supercritical CO2 and alternative physicochemical methods of CO2 activation (electrocatalysis and photocatalysis).

The full-text of the article will be published in the English version of the journal "Catalysis in Industry" No. 1, 2024.

To develop Ru-incorporated bentonite clay as a heterogeneous base catalyst for use in Knoevenagel condensation as an alternative to hazardous base catalysts like pyridine, piperidine, etc., we purify the naturally occurring bentonite clay and Ru3+ cation incorporated into its interlayers of bentonite clay to improve its porosity and to increase the surface area of bentonite clay. Purified bentonite and Ru-bentonite were characterized by FTIR, PXRD, HRTEM, SEM & EDS, BET surface area analysis, and TGA. Base activation was done to these clays and a comparative study of these clays as recyclable heterogeneous catalysts for Knoevenagel Condensation was undertaken in water as a solvent for the chemical transformation of 2,4-dichlorobenzaldehyde and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde with ethyl cyanoacetate into their corresponding α,β-unsaturated acids. The products were characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR analyses. The essential key points of this reaction are mild reaction conditions, absence of hazardous chemicals as used in classical Knoevenagel condensation, reusability of the catalyst, and high yield percentage of the products.

Highly loaded copper-containing catalysts synthesized by different methods (sol-gel, alloying and coprecipitation) were studied in hydroconversion of furfural in a batch reactor at a hydrogen pressure 5.0 MPA and temperature 100 °С. The reduction temperature and phase composition of the catalysts were determined using physicochemical methods. The highest activity in the process under consideration was observed for the coprecipitated copper-alumina catalyst, which at 100–130 °С allows obtaining furfuryl alcohol with 100 % selectivity; in addition, 2-methylfuran can be produced in the presence of this catalyst with the yield of 65 % at 200 °С. The phase composition of the catalyst reduced at a chosen temperature and the catalyst after the reaction was determined.

The review considers and systematizes the results of studies on ethanol conversion to aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, and xylenes) currently available in the literature. Features of the ethanol conversion over zeolite-containing catalysts and the mechanism of each step of its conversion to aromatic hydrocarbons are considered. The effect exerted by the composition of the zeolite-containing catalyst, composition of the raw material and conditions of the ethanol conversion processes is demonstrated. A modifier of the zeolite-containing catalyst is shown to affect the formation selectivity of aromatic hydrocarbons. This review may be interesting and useful for researchers of the zeolite-containing catalytic systems and processing of alcohols.

The effect exerted by the content of ZSM-22 zeolite (15–70 wt.%) in the support on physicochemical properties of Pt/ZSM-22-Al2O3 catalysts was investigated. The study revealed the dependence of the yield and composition of the hydrodeoxygenation products of sunflower oil obtained over these catalysts on temperature (310–340 °С), pressure (3–5 MPa) and mass flow rate (0.8–3 h–1). The possibility of complete hydrodeoxygenation of sunflower oil to obtain hydrocarbons C5+ containing up to 72 % of isoparaffins with the yield of 75–79 wt.% was demonstrated.

The possibility of exhaustive enzymatic hydrolysis of semi-bleached sulfate hardwood pulp, a semi-finished product of pulp and paper production, at its super high concentrations in the reaction mixture (up to 300 g/l) is shown. For hydrolysis, Russian commercial enzyme preparations were used, the best of them was Agroxyl Plus, which has a high activity of cellulases and endoxylanase. With the help of Agroxyl Plus (at its dosage of 20 mg protein/g substrate) in the presence of an auxiliary enzyme preparation of β-glucosidase (2 mg protein/g substrate) at an initial concentration of semi-bleached cellulose of 300 g/l, 290 g/l sugars (210 g/l glucose, 30 g/l xylose) were obtained. Due to fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis, it was possible to halve the dosage of Agroxyl Plus (10 mg protein/g of substrate at a total concentration of semi-bleached cellulose of 300 g/l) while maintaining a high yield of hydrolysis products – 270 g/l sugars (200 g/l glucose, 30 g/l xylose).

August 7, 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of Doctor of Chemical Sciences, laureate of the Russian Government Prize in the field of science and technology, deputy editor-in-chief of the journal "Catalysis in Industry", director of the Center for New Chemical Technologies of the Institute of Catalysis named after. G.K. Boreskov SB RAS, professor of the Department of Organic and Analytical Chemistry of Omsk State University. F.M. Dostoevsky to Alexander Valentinovich Lavrenov.