Catalytic in-Situ Hydrogenation of Furfural over Bimetallic Cu-Ni Alloy Catalysts in Isopropanol

Al2O3-supported Cu and Ni monometallic as well as Cu-Ni bimetallic catalysts were synthesized using a coprecipitation method and studied for the in-situ hydrogenation of furfural (FAL) with isopropanol as the solvent and hydrogen donor. The Cu-Ni bimetallic catalysts showed improved activity toward the production of 2-methylfuran (2-MF) and 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MTHF) over that of monometallic catalysts. The results indicated that isopropanol exhibited better performance than methanol for the in situ hydrogenation of FAL to produce 2-MF and 2-MTHF under the same conditions. The reaction conditions such as the copper-nickel ratios, catalyst loading amount, reaction temperature, and time were optimized. After the reaction was complete, the supported Cu-Ni bimetallic catalyst could be reused four times without a significant loss in catalytic activity.