Scientists in the US have come up with a simple way to convert ethanol into 1-butanol, in what could be an important step forward for renewable energy.
Ethanol can be made by fermenting biomass. However, ethanol presents problems as a fuel, such as low energy density compared to petrol, corrosiveness towards engine technology and fuel pipelines, and since it reacts with water, it can separate out from fuel blends over time. Read the full article in Chemistry World»
Read the original journal article in ChemComm:
Upgrading ethanol to 1-butanol with a homogeneous air-stable ruthenium catalyst
K T Tseng et al, Chem. Commun., 2016, DOI: 10.1039/c5cc09913g
