Catalytic One-Pot Conversion of Renewable Platform Chemicals to Hydrocarbon and Ether Biofuels through Tandem Hf(OTf)4 +Pd/C Catalysis.

Abstract

Efficient conversion of renewable biomass platform chemicals into high-quality fuels remains challenging. A one-pot catalytic approach has been developed to synthesize various structurally defined biofuels by using Hf(OTf)4 and Pd/C for selective tandem catalysis and 2-methylfuran (2-MF) as a renewable feedstock. 2-MF first undergoes Lewis acid-catalyzed hydroxyalkylation/alkylation (HAA) condensation with carbonyl compounds to afford intermediates containing the targeted carbon skeletons of hydrocarbon or ether products, and these intermediates then undergo hydrogenation or hydrodeoxygenation to afford the target products, catalyzed by metal triflate+Pd/C in the same pot. The present process can produce structurally defined alkanes and cyclic ethers under mild conditions.