Enhanced Radical\nDehydrogenation over Carbon Monoxide-Decorated\nPalladium Sites for Linear α‑Olefin Production from Biomass-Derived\nFatty Acids

Biomass-derived fatty acids are promising candidates\nfor the production\nof linear α-olefins (LAOs). Under irradiation, they can be facilely\ntransformed into alkyl radicals over heterogeneous photocatalysts.\nHowever, the subsequent dehydrogenation of generated radical intermediates\nto produce valuable LAOs remains kinetically challenging. Here we\ndemonstrate that CO decoration on Pd nanoparticles can promote LAO\nproduction from fatty acids by significantly lowering the energy barrier\nfor alkyl radical intermediate dehydrogenation. 1-Undecene can be\nobtained from lauric acid in a yield of 46% over a Pd/TiO<sub>2</sub> photocatalyst. Polymerization of the synthesized 1-undecene and\nsubsequent mechanical tests clarify its potential to be used as a\nrenewable comonomer. Our research puts forward an efficient protocol\nto control the conversion of radical intermediates over heterogeneous\ncatalytic sites for biomass upgrading.