Highly dispersed PdCu supported on MCM-41 for efficiently selective transfer hydrogenation of furfural into furfuryl alcohol

Abstract

Biomass-derived furfural (FFA) to furfuryl alcohol (FOL) by selective hydrogenation is challenging due to the diverse unsaturated groups. Herein, a series of bimetallic PdCu supported on MCM-41 catalysts are prepared for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of FFA to FOL. As confirmed by XRD, H2-TPR and TEM, trace concentrations of Pd (0.025 wt.%) are introduced into host Cu nanoparticles (NPs), in which Pd-Cu NPs with an average particle size of 2.6 ± 0.8 nm are highly distributed on the surface and in the pores of MCM-41 supports. Expectantly, Pd-Cu/MCM-41 catalysts with low loading (0.025 wt.%Pd-3wt.%Cu) integrate advantages of Cu (high selectivity but poor activity) and Pd sites (superior activity but unselective), exhibiting an exceptionally high hydrogenation performance of 97.4% FFA conversion and 98.3% FOL selectivity under mild conditions (160 °C, 4 h) with isopropanol as the hydrogen source. Therefore, these nano Pd-Cu/MCM-41 catalysts are ideal candidates for the hydrogenation reaction of industrial FFA to FOL due to their high activity and great economic viability.