Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is a hydrogenolysis process for removing oxygen from oxygen-containing compounds. Typical HDO catalysts commonly are sulfided nickel-

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lea ...

or cobalt-molybdenum on gamma alumina. An idealized reaction is: :R2O + 2 H2 -> H2O + 2 RH The first review on HDO was published in 1983. HDO is of interest in producing

biofuels Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...

, which are derived from oxygen-rich precursors like sugars or lipids. An example of a biomass refining process employing hydrodeoxygenation is the NEXBTL process. HDO of biomass fast pyrolysis vapors under low hydrogen pressures have recently attracted a lot of attention. Bulk molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) was used as catalyst and found to completely deoxygenate cellulose, corn stover, and lignin pyrolysis vapors and produce a stream of hydrocarbons including aromatics, alkenes, and alkanes.{{Cite journal, last=Shanks, first=Brent H., last2=Saraeian, first2=Alireza, last3=Nolte, first3=Michael W., date=2017-07-31, title=Hydrodeoxygenation of cellulose pyrolysis model compounds using molybdenum oxide and low pressure hydrogen, journal=Green Chemistry, language=en, volume=19, issue=15, pages=3654–3664, doi=10.1039/C7GC01477E, issn=1463-9270 From an economic viewpoint, only aromatics and alkenes should ideally be produced to enable product incorporation into the existing infrastructure.

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Chemical processes Petroleum technology