Magnesium Aluminate Supported Cu Catalyst for Selective Transfer Hydrogenation of Biomass Derived Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol with Formic Acid as Hydrogen Donor

Catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) was concerned great attention because it does not need the use of high pressure H-2. A series of Cu catalysts has been prepared for transfer hydrogenation of biomass derived furfural to furfuryl alcohol with formic acid. The prepared Cu based catalysts are thoroughly characterized by various technique such as XRD, TPR, TPD (NH3, CO2), TEM, FT-IR, UV-Vis, N2O pulse chemisorption and N-2-physorption method. For a comparison point of view, the activity tests of various copper based catalysts have also been carried out. Among all these, MgAl2O4 (MA) supported copper catalyst was found to be the best to give 90% selectivity of furfuryl alcohol from transfer hydrogenation of furfural. The excellent yield of furfuryl alcohol could be attributed to high density of surface active Cu species, proper surface acidic-basic properties and metal support interaction. Moreover, Cu/MA catalyst was simply recovered and reused, which retained its original activity even after reaction without significant loss of original activity. Supporting its reusability and stability.