Abstract: Cyclanes serve as critical platform molecules for the synthesis of sustainable jet fuels, fine chemicals, and polymers. Utilizing renewable biomass resources such as lignin to produce value-added chemicals and liquid fuels is essential for reducing fossil fuel dependence and advancing global carbon neutrality strategies. Nevertheless, the efficient cleavage of >C-O bonds and simultaneous deoxygenation of lignin macromolecules remain technical bottlenecks. Herein, a highly dispersed mesoporous Ni/SiO_2-500 was prepared via a deposition-precipitation method, which exhibits exceptional performance in the catalytic hydroconversion of lignin and lignin related model compounds. A moderate calcination temperature of 500 ^oC was employed to induce a pronounced metal-support interaction (MSI) between the active nickel phase and the silica support. This MSI effect effectively suppressed the thermal sintering and aggregation of Ni nanoparticles during high-temperature reduction, resulting in uniformly dispersed Ni nanoparticles with an average diameter of 4.25 nm while preserving a well-developed mesoporous structure with pore sizes ranging from 3 to 5 nm. These favorable structural features endow the catalyst with a high specific surface area, maximized exposure of active metal sites, and remarkably reduced intraparticle diffusion resistance for bulky lignin-derived molecules. Under the optimized conditions (220 ^oC, 2 MPa initial H₂ pressure, and 4 h), phenoxyethylbenzene, employed as a lignin model compound, was subjected to complete conversion over Ni/SiO_2-500. Furthermore, a combined relative product proportion of 95.9% was obtained for cyclohexane and ethylcyclohexane, with a target-product carbon contribution of 48.1%, demonstrating its superior performance in >C-O bond cleavage and aromatic ring hydrogenation. In addition, the catalytic hydroconversion of lignin over Ni/SiO_2-500 yielded 72% soluble portions, with cyclanes and alkanes as the major constituents. Collectively, this work provides a feasible strategy for modulating metal-support interfacial interactions to develop efficient and stable non-noble metal catalysts, offering both fundamental insights and practical pathways for the value-added utilization of lignin resources and the sustainable production of advanced liquid biofuels.
 

Lignin,Catalytic hydroconversion,Cyclanes