Natural Science Foundation of China [20973135, 20771091, 20773101, 20721001]; Ministry of Education [NCET-06-0563

Bulk chemicals such as ethylene glycol (EG) can be industrially synthesized from either ethylene or syngas, but the latter undergoes a bottleneck reaction and requires high hydrogen pressures. We show that fullerene (exemplified by C 60 ) can act as an electron buffer for a copper-silica catalyst (Cu/SiO 2 ). Hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate over a C 60 -Cu/SiO 2 catalyst at ambient pressure and temperatures of 180° to 190°C had an EG yield of up to 98 ± 1%. In a kilogram-scale reaction, no deactivation of the catalyst was seen after 1000 hours. This mild route for the final step toward EG can be combined with the already-industrialized ambient reaction from syngas to the intermediate of dimethyl oxalate.

No abstract

The microscopic surface structures of electrochemically activated glassy carbon have been examined by scanning tunneling microscopy. Experimental results demonstrate that there are two different types of electrode surface sites, corresponding to the bundles and bundle edges of the fibrous graphite microcrystallities. Electrochemical activation results in the formation of new void spaces of different sizes, and the structures are affected by the electrochemical activation procedures employed. The void volume resulting from cyclic polarization is usually smaller than that obtained by potentostatic activation. Electrochemical behaviors of the activated electrode are related to both the new void structures and the size of the electroactive species employed. On the basis of the STM voltammetric results, the microscopic structure of the activated electrode is proposed.