Effect of feedstock solvent on the stability of Cu/SiO2 catalyst for vapor-phase hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to ethylene glycol.

The lifetime (200 h) of a Cu/SiO(2) catalyst under DMO-ethanol feedstock is 20 times longer than that (10 h) of the catalyst under DMO-methanol feedstock without any modification of the catalyst. The stabilization effect of ethanol on the active centers can effectively slow down the agglomeration of copper particles during the hydrogenation process.