German Applied Chemistry Published ECUST Research in Directional Conversion of Methanol to High-end Chemicals 

Recently, Professor Duan Xuezhi and Dr. Chen Wenyao from the School of Chemical Engineering and the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, ECUST have innovatively proposed a one-step efficient synthesis of high-end chemicals (such as methyl methacrylate) from methanol catalyzed by Cu-Cs double active sites. In this route, relay catalysis is used in a fixed bed reactor. By adjusting the spatial distance and bed distribution between Cu and Cs double active sites, the directional regulation of carbon chain unsaturation and chain length of products is realized. The research article was published in German Applied Chemistry with the title of “Leveraging the Proximity and Distribution of Cu‐Cs Sites for Direct Conversion of Methanol to Esters/Aldehydes”.

The research has received careful guidance from Academician Yuan Weikang, Professor Zhou Xinggui and Academician De Chen of Norwegian University of Science and Technology. In addition, the research has been supported by the national key R&D plan, the National Natural Science Foundation, the major natural science projects of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission's scientific research and innovation plan, and the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission's scientific and technological innovation action plan.