2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is considered to be a promising replacement for terephthalic acid since they share similar structures and properties. In contrast to FDCA, 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid methyl (FDCAM) has properties that allow it to be easily purified. In this work, we reported an oxidative esterification of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and furfural to prepare corresponding esters over Cox Oy -N@C catalysts using O2 as benign oxidant. High yield and selectivity of FDCAM and methyl 2-furoate were obtained under optimized conditions. Factors which influenced the product distribution were examined thoroughly. The Cox Oy -N@C catalysts were recycled five times and no significant loss of activity was detected. Characterization of the catalysts could explain such phenomena. Using XPS and TGA, we made a thorough investigation of the effects of ligand and pyrolysis temperature on catalyst activity.

Using a metal triflate and Pd/C as catalysts, alkanes were prepared from bioderived furans in a one-pot hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) process. During the reaction, the metal triflate plays a crucial role in the ring-opening HDO of furan compounds. The entire reaction process has goes through two major phases: at low temperatures, saturation of the exocyclic double bond and furan ring are catalyzed by Pd/C; at high temperatures, the HDO of saturated furan compounds is catalyzed by the metal triflate. The reaction mechanism was verified by analyzing the changes of the intermediates during the reaction. In addition, different metal triflates, solvents, and catalyst recycling were also investigated.

Germanium, a member of 14th group that falls between Si and Sn, has remained considerably ignored as a nucleophile for a long time. Compared with other forms of Ge-containing nucleophiles, germatranes are structure-defined, easily accessible, and stabilized nucleophilic fragments, but they fail to meet the need of high reactivity and facile introducing to organics. Herein, we report a modified structure of germatranes, whose cross-coupling reactivity is greatly improved. The structure can be easily constructed from inexpensive industrial GeO2, and corresponding Ge -Cl and Ge -H can also be obtained after facile transformations. Moreover, Ar- Ge can be effectively synthesized either from Grignard reagents or Pd-catalyzed germylation of aryl halides.