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Title: Production of Biomass-Based Automotive Lubricants by Reductive Etherification

Journal Article · · ChemSusChem
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); BP North America, Berkeley, CA (United States); BASF Corp., Iselin NJ (United States)
  3. BP Formulated Products Technology, Technology Centre (United Kingdom)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Growing concern with the effects of CO2 emissions due to the combustion of petroleum-based transportation fuels has motivated the search for means to increase engine efficiency. The discovery of ethers with low viscosity presents an important opportunity to improve engine efficiency and fuel economy. We show here a strategy for the catalytic synthesis of such ethers by reductive etherification/O-alkylation of alcohols using building blocks that can be sourced from biomass. We find that long-chain branched ethers have several properties that make them superior lubricants to the mineral oil and synthetic base oils used today. These ethers provide a class of potentially renewable alternatives to conventional lubricants produced from petroleum and may contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases associated with vehicle emissions.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1571070
Journal Information:
ChemSusChem, Journal Name: ChemSusChem Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 10; ISSN 1864-5631
Publisher:
ChemPubSoc EuropeCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (1)

Renewable lubricants with tailored molecular architecture collection January 2019

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Related Subjects

37
biomass
etherification
heterogeneous catalysis
lubricant
sustainable chemistry