Selective hydrodeoxygenation of biomass derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural over silica supported iridium catalysts

Catalytic performance of iridium supported on SiO2 was investigated for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) transformation. Ir/SiO2 catalysts exhibiting different metal loading (1, 3, and 5 wt.%) were tested in the preliminary experiments in the hydrogenation of two probe molecules, e.g. ethyl pyruvate (EP) and ketopantolactone (KP) to evaluate the Ir dispersion on the catalyst activity in C=O hydrogenation. In the transformation of HMF the influence of metal dispersion, iridium precursor and addition of H2SO4 were studied revealing that 2,5-bis-(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) was the main product with 83% selectivity at 70% conversion of HMF over chlorine free Ir/Si0 2 together with H2SO4 at 333 K in THE under 10 bar H-2 pressure. On the other hand, one-pot synthesis of HMF to 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) was promoted in the presence of chlorine containing 1%Ir/SiO2(Cl) and H2SO4. Both of these products are considered high value-added chemicals from biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. The exposed iridium atoms together with the total acid sites are an important catalytic descriptor for hydrogenation of HMF to BHMF.