Bimetallic Cu-Ni/MCM-41 catalyst for efficiently selective transfer hydrogenation of furfural into furfural alcohol

Furfural (FFA) is regarded as one of the most important platform chemicals derived directly from biomass and its downstream hydrogenation product of furfural alcohol (FOL) has important industrial value. Therefore, the development of efficient non-noble metals catalysts for FFA hydrogenation to FOL is highly desirable. Herein, a series of Cu-Ni alloy supported on MCM-41 catalysts are developed for catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of FFA into FOL using 2-propanol as hydrogen source and solvent. The Cu-Ni alloy particles are verified by HRTEM and XRD analysis and the introduction of Ni metal improves the dispersion of Cu. Simultaneously, the effects of the Cu-Ni metals content and the Cu/Ni ratio of catalysts in CTH of FFA to FOL are studied. The 15Cu-15Ni/MCM-41 shows the best catalytic performance with 94.5% of FFA conversion and similar to x223C 99% of FOL selectivity, which depends on the synergistic effect within the Cu and Ni metals and moderate hydrogenation capacity of 2-propanol. More importantly, the catalyst still sustains good performance of FFA hydrogenation after being used five times. The possible reaction pathway for CTH of FFA over Cu-Ni/MCM-41 catalyst is discussed: active hydrogens from 2-propanol attack the carbonyl group of FFA activated by metal sites to form FOL. This work provides a feasible sight to develop a referable catalyst system for the industrial CTH of FFA.

Automated summary

Cu-Ni alloy supported on MCM-41 catalysts were developed for the CTH of FFA into FOL, with the 15Cu-15Ni/MCM-41 catalyst showing the best performance. The synergistic effect between Cu and Ni metals, along with moderate hydrogenation capacity of 2-propanol, contribute to the efficient conversion of FFA and high selectivity to FOL.