Catalytic transfer hydrogenation of biomass-derived furfural to furfuryl alcohol with formic acid as hydrogen donor over CuCs-MCM catalyst

Abstract

Catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of furfural (FF) to furfuryl alcohol (FFA) has received great interest in recent years. Herein, Cu-Cs bimetallic supported catalyst, CuCs(2)-MCM, was developed for the CTH of FF to FFA using formic as hydrogen donor. CuCs(2)-MCM achieved a 99.6% FFA yield at an optimized reaction conditions of 170 °C, 1 h. Cu species in CuCs(2)-MCM had dual functions in catalytically decomposing formic acid to generate hydrogen and hydrogenating FF to FFA. The doping of Cs made the size of Cu particles smaller and improved the dispersion of the Cu active sites. Importantly, the Cs species played a favorable role in enhancing the hydrogenation activity as a promoter by adjusting the surface acidity of Cu species to an appropriate level. Correlation analysis showed that surface acidity is the primary factor to affect the catalytic activity of CuCs(2)-MCM.