• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.190-197
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• 2021

Kraft lignin is a by-product of the pulp and paper industry, obtained as a black liquor after the extraction of cellulose from wood through the Kraft pulping process. Right now, kraft lignin is utilized as a low-grade boiler fuel to provide heat and power but can be converted into high-calorific biofuels or high-value chemicals once the efficient catalytic depolymerization process is developed. In this work, the multi-functional catalyst of Ru-Mg-Al-oxide, which contains hydrogenation metals, acid, and base sites for the effective depolymerization of kraft lignin are prepared, and its lignin depolymerization efficiency is evaluated. In order to understand the role of different active sites in the lignin depolymerization, the three different catalysts of MgO, Mg-Al-oxide, and Ru-Mg-Al-oxide were synthesized, and their lignin depolymerization activity was compared in terms of the yield and the average molecular weight of bio-oil, as well as the yield of phenolic monomers contained in the bio-oil. Among the catalysts tested, the Ru-Mg-Al-oxide catalyst exhibited the highest yield of bio-oil and phenolic monomers due to the synergy between active sites. Furthermore, in order to maximize the extent of lignin depolymerization over the Ru-Mg-Al-oxide, the effects of reaction conditions (i.e., temperature, time, and catalyst loading amount) on the lignin depolymerization were investigated. Overall, the highest bio-oil yield of 72% and the 3.5 times higher yield of phenolic monomers than that without a catalyst were successfully achieved at 350 ℃ and 10% catalyst loading after 4 h reaction time.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.291-300
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• 2008

Catalytic cracking of n-octane was carried out over H-ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts after calcination with air and steaming with 100% steam in the temperature range of $550-750^{\circ}C$ for 24 h and compared with the results of thermal cracking. The increase of calcination and steaming temperature resulted in the decrease of surface area, pore volume, and strong acid sites, which was mainly caused by the dealumination of H-ZSM-5 framework. It was found by $^{27}Al$ and $^{29}Si$ MAS NMR that the dealumination was proceeded through the transformation process of tetrahedral framework Al${\rightarrow}$penta-cordinated Al ${\rightarrow}$ octahedral framework Al and the phenomena was much more severe in steaming conditions than that of calcination. In the catalytic cracking of n-octane, as the temperatures of calcination and steaming were increased, the conversion of n-octane, the selectivity of light olefins and ethylene to propylene ratio were decreased due to the dealumination of framework aluminum resulting the loss of acidic strengths. The conversion, selectivity of light olefins and ethylene to propylene ratio reached almost to the level of thermal cracking after steaming at $750^{\circ}C$ for 24 h.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.600-606
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• 2018

The influence of acidity in MTT zeolite of different Si/Al molar ratio's on the catalyst activity in methanol-to-olefin (MTO) reaction has been investigated. The Si/Al ratio was controlled with the Al content in the gel when N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-1,3-diaminopropane was used as a structure directing agent (SDA). The gel composition was controlled to $20SiO_2$ : 30SDA : x (=0.25~1.25)$NaAlO_2$ : 2NaOH : $624H_2O$, which was subject to the hydrothermal synthesis at 433 K for 4 days. As the composition of sodium aluminate decreased, the particle size of MTT zeolite increased, and also the amount of acid sites decreased. To investigate the catalytic performance, MTO reaction was carried out at 673 K with $1.2h^{-1}$ WHSV. It was found that the H-MTT (1.00Al) catalyst with a Si/Al molar ratio of 24 maintained the methanol conversion over 90% for 900 min.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.350-359
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• 2020

Pathogenic aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) are attractive targets for anti-infective agents because their catalytic active sites are different from those of human ARSs. Mupirocin is a topical antibiotic that specifically inhibits bacterial isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase (IleRS), resulting in a block to protein synthesis. Previous studies on Thermus thermophilus IleRS indicated that mupirocin-resistance of eukaryotic IleRS is primarily due to differences in two amino acids, His581 and Leu583, in the active site. However, without a eukaryotic IleRS structure, the structural basis for mupirocin-resistance of eukaryotic IleRS remains elusive. Herein, we determined the crystal structure of Candida albicans IleRS complexed with Ile-AMP at 2.9 A resolution. The largest difference between eukaryotic and prokaryotic IleRS enzymes is closure of the active site pocket by Phe55 in the HIGH loop; Arg410 in the CP core loop; and the second Lys in the KMSKR loop. The Ile-AMP product is lodged in a closed active site, which may restrict its release and thereby enhance catalytic efficiency. The compact active site also prevents the optimal positioning of the 9-hydroxynonanoic acid of mupirocin and plays a critical role in resistance of eukaryotic IleRS to anti-infective agents.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.153-159
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• 2000

A novel serine/threonine protein phosphatase with EF-hand motif, which belongs to PPEF family was partially cloned from rat brain cDNA by employing RT-PCR method. The size of the amplified clone was 1.6kbp. The amplified DNA was subcloned into pGEM-T-Easy vector and the resulting plasmid was maned as pGEM-rPPEF2. The nucleuotide sequence is shared by 88% with that of mouse PPEF-2 cDNA, and the deduced amino acid sequence reveal 92% homology with that of mouse PPEF-2 cDNA. The N-terminal region of the cloned rat brain PPEF contains a putative phosphatase catalytic domain (PP domain) and the C-terminal region contains multiple $Ca^{2+}$ binding sites (EF region). The putative catalytic domin (PP) and the EF-hand motif (EF) regions were subcloned into pGEX4T-1 and were overexpressed in E. coli DH5 as glutathione-S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins. Expression of the desired fusion protein was identified by SDS-PAGE and also by immunoblot analysis using monoclonal antibody against GST. The recombinant proteins were purified by glutathione-agarose chromatography. This report is first to demonstrate the cloning of PPEF family from rat brain tissues. The clone reported here would be invaluable for the investigation of the role of this new type-phosphatase in rat brain.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.185-189
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• 2004

Methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME) has been investigated over ZSM-5 zeolites and compared with that of ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$. Although the catalytic activity was decreased with an increase in silica/alumina ratio, the DME selectivity increased. H-ZSM-5 and NaH-ZSM-5 zeolites were more active for conversion of methanol to DME than ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$. $Na^+$ ion-exchanged H-ZSM-5 (NaH-ZSM-5) shows higher DME selectivity than H-ZSM-5 due to the selective removal of strong acid sites.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.525-530
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• 2014

Titanium dioxide nanotube supported ZSM-5 zeolite composite catalyst was fabricated by decorating ZSM-5 zeolite on the hydrothermally synthesized titanium dioxide via hydrothermal process and subsequent annealing. The catalyst was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Nitrogen adsorption-desorption (BET). The surface acidity of the catalyst was measured by means of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum of pyridine adsorption. And the catalytic activity for ethanol dehydration to ethylene was evaluated in a continuous flow fixed-bed reactor. Attributed to the increase of the effective surface acid sites caused by titanium dioxide nanotube as electron acceptor, titanium dioxide nanotube supported ZSM-5 zeolite composite catalyst exhibits strongly enhanced activity for ethanol dehydration to ethylene.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.583-588
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• 2010

Esterification of free fatty acid with methanol to biodiesel was investigated in a batch reactor using various solid acid catalysts, such as polymer cation-exchanged resins with sulfuric acid functional group(Amberlyst-15, Dowex 50Wx8), acidic ionic liquids (ILs)-modified silica gels respectively with $-SO_3H$ and $-SO_2Cl$ functional group ($SiO_2-[ASBI][HSO_4]$, $SiO_2-[ASCBI][HSO_4]$) and grafted silica gels respectively with $-SO_3H$ and $-SO_2Cl$ functional group ($SiO_2-R-SO_3H$, $SiO_2-R-SO_2Cl$). The effects of reaction time, temperature, reactant concentration(molar ratio of methanol to oleic acid), and catalyst amount were studied. Allylimidazolium-based ILs on modified silica gels were superior to other tested solid acid catalysts. Especially, the performance of $SiO_2-[ASBI][HSO_4]$ (immobilized by grafting of 3-allyl-1-(4-sulfobutyl)imidazolium hydrogen sulfate on silica gel) was better than that of a widely known Amberlyst-15 catalyst at the same reaction conditions. A high conversion yield of 96% was achieved in the esterification reaction of the simulated cooking oil at 353 K for 2 h. The high catalytic activity of $SiO_2-[ASBI][HSO_4]$ was attributed to the presence of strong Brønsted acid sites from the immobilized functional groups. The catalyst was recovered and the biodiesel product was separated by simple processes such as decantation and filtration.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.34-40
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• 2014

Mesoporous SAPO-34 catalyst was successfully synthesized by the hydrothermal method using carbon nanotube (CNT) as a secondary template. The effects of CNT contents (0.5, 1.5, 2.5, and 4.5 mol%) on catalytic performances were investigated. The synthesized catalysts were characterized with XRD, SEM, nitrogen physisorption isotherm and $NH_3$-TPD. Among the synthesized catalysts, SAPO-34 catalyst prepared by the addition of 1.5 mol% CNT (1.5C-SAPO-34) observed not only the largest amounts of mesopore volume but also acid sites. However, the mesopore volume was relatively decreased by further increasing of CNT contents due to the formation of small crystalline. The catalytic lifetime and the selectivity of light olefins ($C_2{\sim}C_4$) were examined for the dimethyl ether to olefins reaction. As a result, the 1.5C-SAPO-34 catalyst showed an improvement of ca. 36% in a catalytic lifetime and a better selectivity to light olefins as compared with the general SAPO-34 catalyst.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.305-311
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• 2021

Effects of chitosan as a mesopore directing agent of SAPO-34 catalysts were investigated to improve the catalytic lifetime in DTO reaction. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherm and NH₃-temperature programmed desorption (TPD). The modified SAPO-34 catalysts prepared by varying the added amount of chitosan showed the same cubic morphology and chabazite structure as the conventional SAPO-34 catalyst. As the added amount of chitosan increased to 3 wt%, the surface area, mesopore volume and concentration of weak acid sites of modified SAPO-34 catalysts increased. The modified SAPO-34 catalysts showed enhanced catalytic lifetime and high selectivity for light olefins in the DTO reaction. In particular, the SAPO-CHI 3 catalyst (3 wt%) exhibited the longest catalytic lifetime than that of the conventional SAPO-34. Therefore, it was confirmed that chitosan was a suitable material as a mesopore directing agent to delay deactivation of the SAPO-34 catalyst.