Selective Hydrodeoxygenation of Lignin-Derived Phenols to Aromatics Catalyzed by Nb2O5-Supported Iridium.

The dominating catalytic approach to aromatic hydrocarbons from renewables, deoxygenation of phenol-rich depolymerized lignin bio-oils, is hard to achieve: hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of phenols typically leads to the loss of aromaticity and to non-negligible fractions of cyclohexanones and cyclohexanols. Here, we report a catalyst, niobia-supported iridium nanoparticles (Ir@Nb2O5), which combines full conversion in the HDO of lignin-derived phenols with appreciable and tunable selectivity for aromatics (25-95%) under mild conditions (200-300 °C, 2.5-10 bar of H2). A simple approach to the removal of Brønsted-acidic sites via Hünig's base prevents coking and allows reaction conditions (T > 225 °C, 2.5 bar of H2), promoting high yields of aromatic hydrocarbons.

EEG oscillations reveal neural correlates of evidence accumulation.

Recent studies have begun to elucidate the neural correlates of evidence accumulation in perceptual decision making, but few of them have used a combined modeling-electrophysiological approach to studying evidence accumulation. We introduce a multivariate approach to EEG analysis with which we can perform a comprehensive search for the neural correlate of dynamics predicted by accumulator models. We show that the dynamics of evidence accumulation are most strongly correlated with ramping of oscillatory power in the 4-9 Hz theta band over the course of a trial, although it also correlates with oscillatory power in other frequency bands. The rate of power decrease in the theta band correlates with individual differences in the parameters of drift diffusion models fitted to individuals' behavioral data.