Selective Conversion of Furfural to Cyclopentanone and Cyclopentanol by Magnetic Cu-Fe3O4 NPs Catalyst

Series of magnetic Cu/Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) with different Cu loading were prepared by co-precipitation method and studied as catalysts for the conversion of furfural to cyclopentanone (CPO) or cyclopentanol (CPL), respectively in aqueous phase. It is found that the product distribution was affected by the hydrogen pressure, reaction temperature, reaction time and the loading of active metals. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Transmission electron microscope (TEM) were used to characterize the catalysts. The results showed that active metals Cu and Fe had obvious interaction. XPS analysis suggested that the electron binding energy of Cu and Fe exhibited a strong interaction, which may be the main reason for the high selectivity of the catalyst to CPO and CPL. The highest yield of CPO was 91% at 3 MPa H-2, 10% Cu/Fe3O4, 443 K and 4 h. Furthermore, the highest yield of 82% CPL was obtained when 50% Cu/Fe3O4 was employed. Importantly, it was found that the catalyst had no obvious loss of activity in the five cycles. The catalyst was easy to recycle because of its magnetism.