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Heterogeneously catalyzed deoxydehydration (DODH) ordinarily occurs over relatively costly oxide supported ReO x sites and is an effective process for the removal of vicinal OH groups that are common in biomass-derived chemicals. Here, through first-principles calculations, we investigate the DODH of 1,4-anhydroerythritol over anatase TiO 2 (101)-supported ReO x and MoO x . The atomistic structures of ReO x and MoO x under typical reaction conditions were identified with constrained thermodynamics calculations as ReO 2 (2O)/6H–TiO 2 and MoO(2O)/3H–TiO 2 , respectively. The calculated energy profile and developed microkinetic reaction model suggest that both ReO 2 (2O)/6H–TiO 2 and MoO(2O)/3H–TiO 2 exhibit a relatively low DODH activity at 413 K. However, at higher temperatures such as 473 K, MoO(2O)/TiO 2 (101) was found to exhibit a reasonably high catalytic activity similar to ReO 2 (2O)/6H–TiO 2 , consistent with a recent experimental study. Mechanistically, the first O–H bond cleavage of 1,4-anhydroerythritol and the dihydrofuran extrusion were found to be the rate-controlling steps for the reaction over ReO 2 (2O)/6H–TiO 2 and MoO(2O)/3H–TiO 2 , respectively. Thus, this study clarifies the mechanism of the DODH over oxide-supported catalysts and provides meaningful insight into the design of low-cost DODH catalysts. 

Deoxydehydration (DODH) is an emerging biomass deoxygenation process whereby vicinal OH groups are removed. Based on DFT calculations and microkinetic modeling, we seek to understand the mechanism of the Re-catalyzed deoxydehydration supported on CeO 2 (111). In addition, we aim at understanding the promotional effect of Pd in a heterogeneous ReO x –Pd/CeO 2 DODH catalyst system. We disentangle the contribution of the oxide support, the oxide-supported single ReO x species, and a co-adsorbed Pd promoter that has no direct interaction with the Re species. In the absence of a nearby Pd cluster, a Re site is able to reduce subsurface Ce-ions of a hydroxylated CeO 2 (111) surface, leading to a catalytically active Re +6 species. The effect of Pd is twofold: (i) Pd catalyzes the hydrogen dissociation and spillover onto CeO 2 , which is an indispensable process for the regeneration of the Re catalyst, and (ii) Pd adsorbed in close proximity to Re on CeO 2 (111) facilitates the oxidation of Re to a +7 oxidation state, which leads to an even more active Re species than the Re +6 site present in the absence of Pd. The latter promotional effect of Pd (and change in oxidation state of Re) disappears with increasing Pd–Re distance and in the presence of oxygen defects on the ceria support. Under these conditions, the ReO x –Pd/CeO 2 catalyst system exhibits appreciable activity consistent with recent experiments. The established mechanism and role of various species in the catalyst system help to better understand the deoxydehydration catalysis. Also, the importance of the Re oxidation state and the identified oxidation state modification mechanisms suggest a new pathway for tuning the properties of metal-oxide supported catalysts.