关键词: 草酸酯, 加氢, 乙二醇, 铜基催化剂, 铜

Abstract: The synthesis of ethylene glycol from syngas via hydrogenation of oxalate is a novel non-oil route to obtain bulk chemicals. Due to the “deficient oil，lean gas，rich coal” energy structure in China，research on the technology bears a realistic and strategic significance. This paper introduces recent research on Cu-based catalyst applied in the hydrogenation of oxalate to EG and presents a discussion on the influences of support and additive on the activity and selectivity of catalyst. An insight was made on the catalyst structure and the formation mechanism of copper valence states，as well as its influences on catalytic performance. The internal diffusion and shaping process of the catalyst have also been discussed and analyzed in this paper. Moreover，the paper introduces the progress in scaling up and engineering of the process. Developing new catalyst with high activity and mechanical strength has been proposed as one important subject for the hydrogenation of oxalate. Furthermore，the application of irregular shape catalyst may tackle the engineering problem of the higher bed resistance of catalyst. Finally，developing thermal stable Cu-based catalyst is suggested to be one of the important aspects of this subject.

Key words: oxalate ester, hydrogenation, ethylene glycol, copper based catalyst, copper(Cu)