Catalytic hydrogenation of cresol: first-principles density-functional calculations and \textit{ab initio} molecular dynamics simulations*

Biomass is an important renewable energy resource. Cresol is one of components in crude bio-oil generated from biomass, and hydrogenation of cresol is often involved in the upgrading process. We studied catalytic hydrogenation of cresol on the Pt(111) surface with and without the presence of water. In particular, we used first-principles density-functional theory and \textit{ab initio} molecular dynamics simulations to obtain adsorption geometries, binding energies, reaction energies, activation energies, and reaction pathways for hydrogenation of cresol with possible products of 2-methylcyclohexanone and 2-methylcyclohexanol. Our theoretical results are used to explain the available experimental measurements, which show a strong influence of water.