Using MOF-808 as a Promising Support to Immobilize Ru for Selective Hydrogenation of Levulinic Acid to γ-Valerolactone

Abstract

A stable Zr-based metal–organic framework (MOF), MOF-808, was used as a promising support to immobilize metallic Ru for the first time. The skeleton structure of MOF-808 can be well preserved during the immobilization process. Ru nanoparticles existed both inside and outside of the MOF cavities with good dispersion. The developed Ru/MOF-808 composite was found to be an efficient catalyst for the hydrogenation of biomass-derived levulinic acid (LA) to γ-valerolactone (GVL). Under mild reaction conditions, full conversion of LA (100%) with high selectivity to GVL (> 99%) was achieved. The catalyst recycling and hot filtration experiments indicate that Ru/MOF-808 possesses a good catalytic stability for the LA hydrogenation reaction, although some catalyst structure changes were observed. The good immobilization effect of MOF-808 for Ru may be related to the high binding affinity between the Zr6 nodes and Ru particles.