Alcohol dehydrogenation catalysts

Dehydrogenation is an important chemical reaction for industrial applications as it is often used to produce aldehydes and ketones from alcohols. The transformation can be carried out in the presence of a hydrogen acceptor using heterogeneous catalysts, enzymes (alcohol dehydrogenases), and homogeneous catalysts (ruthenium catalysts). Ruthenium catalysts often operate under basic conditions and can provide acceptor-less dehydrogenation with hydrogen evolution. In some cases, primary alcohols can be dehydrogenated to carboxylates (ethanol to ethyl acetate with Gusev™ catalysts). Enantioselective dehydrogenation using enzymes can be used to deracemize chiral alcohols. 

Johnson Matthey offers various dehydrogenation catalyst solutions including heterogeneous catalysts, homogeneous chiral catalysts, and enzymes to support your next project.