Interfacial synergy within bimetallic oxide promotes selective hydrogenolysis of furfuryl alcohol to 1,5-pentanediol

Abstract

Cobalt-based catalysts have displayed intrinsic activity for selective hydrogenolysis of furfural alcohol (FFA) to 1,5-pentanediol (1,5-PDO), but how to efficiently enhance 1,5-PDO selectivity remain a challenge. We prepared a series of CoPtLa-Hx catalysts by different reduction temperatures, and found the interfacial synergy within the bimetallic oxide CoOx-PtOx of the CoPtLa-H5 catalyst not only boosted the dispersion of Co species and Pt species, also increased electronic interactions within the bimetallic oxide which promoted the formation of the content of Co2+ that are critical to C-O bond rupture of FFA. The interfacial synergy significantly enhanced the 1,5-PDO yield (40.3 %) and favored high catalyst stability. We found that the formations of 1,5-PDO, 1,2-PDO and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA) are competing reactions, which is helpful to the design of highly selective catalysts towards the conversion FFA to 1,5-PDO.