Recent Progress in CO Hydrogenation over Bimetallic Catalysts for Higher Alcohol Synthesis

The conversion of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, generally called synthesis gas, to higher alcohols has gained recent attention. Alcohols can be either transformed into other value-added products such as ethers or used directly as fuels or fuel additives. Various types of catalysts have been prepared and investigated for the hydrogenation of CO to higher alcohols and improvements are in progress to find a robust catalyst with high activity and selectivity towards higher alcohols. In particular, the role of the bimetallic catalyst having two active sites contributing efficiently to higher alcohol synthesis has been a focus in recent years. Herein, the recent development in bimetallic catalyst preparation and the investigations of the reaction mechanism in CO hydrogenation have been reviewed.