Abstract: Endothermic aqueous-phase reforming of methanol for hydrogen generation and exothermic hydrogenation of acetophenone to α-phenylethanol can be performed over the same type of catalyst under similar conditions (temperature and pressure). In the present work, a novel route for in-situ aqueous-phase hydrogenation of acetophenone to α-phenylethanol was proposed, in which active hydrogen was obtained directly from aqueous-phase reforming of methanol. The experimental results indicated that high selectivity for C=O bond hydrogenation (95% of α-phenylethanol selectivity) was reached. Furthermore, the conversion of methanol and the selectivity for hydrogen in the aqueous-phase reforming of methanol were significantly increased. Also, the optimization of reaction conditions, such as reaction temperature, reaction pressure, acetophenone concentration, and the ratio of raw materials, was performed to promote the selectivity for hydrogen in aqueous-phase reforming of methanol and for α-phenylethanol in acetophenone hydrogenation.

Key words: aqueous phase, methanol, reforming, acetophenone, hydrogenation, phenylethanol, coupling, Raney nickel