Synergistic catalytic hydrogenation of furfural to 1,2-pentanediol and 1,5-pentanediol with LDO derived from CuMgAl hydrotalcite

A series of layer double metal oxides (LDO) from CuMgAl hydrotalcite precursors were prepared by urea decomposition under different calcination temperatures in this work. Various characterizations including XRD, SEM, FTIR, XPS, H-2-TPR, NH3-TPD and CO2-TPD were carried out to investigate the structural properties of the as-prepared samples. After calcination at certain temperatures, the resulted LDO presents the excellent catalytic property in the selective hydrogenolysis of furfural (FA) to 1,2-pentanediol (1,2-PeD) and 1,5-pentanediol (1,5-PeD). The Cu+/Cu2+ ratio and the acid-base amount from the calcination process play the key role in the catalytic performance towards this reaction. The optimal catalyst (CuMgAlO-S3) with the maximal Cu+/Cu2+ ratio and the acid-base amount exhibits the best catalytic performance towards hydrogenation of furfural to 1,2-pentanediol (selectivity 55.2 %.) and 1,5-pentanediol (selectivity 28.5 %) with more than 80 % of conversion rate, which indicated the selectivity of 1,2- and 1,5-PeDs counted on the synergistic effect of Cu+ and acid-base properties.

Automated summary

In this study, a series of layer double metal oxides were prepared from CuMgAl hydrotalcite precursors by urea decomposition. The as-prepared samples were characterized and found to exhibit excellent catalytic properties in the selective hydrogenolysis of furfural to 1,2-pentanediol and 1,5-pentanediol. The catalyst with optimal Cu+/Cu2+ ratio and acid-base amount showed the best catalytic performance, indicating the synergy of Cu+ and acid-base properties in the selectivity of 1,2- and 1,5-PeDs.