Patent ID: 8497403

Claim:
A process comprising the steps of: (a) providing a biomass-derived feedstream comprising hydrocarbon diols that contain five or six carbon atoms; (b) contacting the feedstream of step (a) with a first catalyst in a reactor, wherein the contacting results in an acidic condensation reaction that converts a least a portion of the feedstream to condensation products, wherein said condensation products comprise at least 10 carbon atoms and at least one ether functional group; (c) converting at least a portion of the remaining hydroxyl functional groups on the condensation products from step (b) to ether functional groups by combining the condensation products with a second catalyst to produce a liquid hydrocarbon mixture suitable for use as an additive to liquid hydrocarbon fuels, wherein the converting takes place in the presence of an olefin, monofunctional alcohol or mixtures thereof, wherein the liquid hydrocarbon mixture has increased miscibility in liquid hydrocarbon fuels as a result of step c).