Selective Production of 2-Methylfuran by Gas-Phase Hydrogenation of Furfural on Copper Incorporated by Complexation in Mesoporous Silica Catalysts

Copper species have been incorporated in mesoporous silica (MS) through complexation with the amine groups of dodecylamine, which was used as a structure-directing agent in the synthesis. A series of Cu/SiO2 catalysts (xCu-MS) with copper loadings (x) from 2.5 to 20wt% was synthesized and evaluated in the gas-phase hydrogenation of furfural (FUR). The most suitable catalytic performance in terms of 2-methylfuran yield was obtained with an intermediate copper content (10wt%). This 10Cu-MS catalyst exhibits a 2-methylfuran yield higher than 95mol% after 5h time-on-stream (TOS) at a reaction temperature of 210 degrees C with a H-2/FUR molar ratio of 11.5 and a weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 1.5h(-1). After 14h TOS, this catalyst still showed a yield of 80mol%. In all cases, carbonaceous deposits on the external surface were the cause of the catalyst deactivation, although sintering of the copper particles was observed for higher copper loadings. This intermediate copper loading (10wt%) offered a suitable balance between resistance to sintering and tendency to form carbonaceous deposits.