776
Energy & Fuels 1996, 10, 776-788
Decarboxylation and Coupling Reactions of Aromatic Acids under Coal-Liquefaction Conditions Jeffrey A. Manion, Donald F. McMillen,* and Ripudaman Malhotra Molecular Physics Laboratory, SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, California 94025 Received October 31, 1995. Revised Manuscript Received March 14, 1996X
Decarboxylation of a series of monomeric benzoic acid systems under liquefaction-relevant conditions was studied. The principal findings are the following: (1) decarboxylation rates of benzoic acids range from a few percent in 1 h at 400 °C for unactivated acids to >98% for species activated by OH in the ortho or para positions; (2) coupling of unactivatiated benzoic acids as a direct result of decarboxylation tends to be very minor (generally 98 >99 2 (2) 88g 87g 84g 92g >99 ∼75
coupling/decarboxylation (%)b
