Furfural is a promising renewable platform compound derived from lignocellulosic biomass that can be further converted to biofuels and biochemicals. The highly functionalized molecular structure of furfural makes it a desired raw material for the sustainable production of value-added chemicals containing oxygen atoms. The conversion of furfural to C4 and C5 chemicals by various catalytic processes is reviewed. The C5 chemicals are mainly produced through sequential steps of selective hydrogenation and/or hydrogenolysis, while most of the C4 chemicals are synthesized with selective oxidation as the first step. This review divides the chemical products from furfural into several groups according to their carbon numbers and synthesis routes, with emphasis on the catalysts and reaction mechanisms. The applications of these chemicals and their traditional production from fossil feedstocks have also been added as background information. Additionally, recent advances in the development of heterogeneous catalysts for furfural production are briefly reviewed.

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The selective hydrogenation of unsaturated aldehydes (UAL) to saturated aldehydes (SAL) and unsaturated alcohols (UOL) is an important industrial process for producing fine chemicals. More efforts were made on the selective hydrogenation of CO to UOL, because CC hydrogenation is thermodynamically favored over CO hydrogenation. A crucial step toward high selectivity is the rational design of heterogeneous catalysts. In this Review, the catalyst design for the hydrogenation of UAL to UOL are catalogued into three major strategies, namely, modifying electronic properties, forming electrophilic sites, and involving confinement/steric effect. Research works accomplished in the past decade on the catalyst design for UAL hydrogenation are systematically reviewed using the above strategies. The focus is on the selectivity-enhancing mechanism, methods to perform the chosen strategy, and the factors that influence the mechanism. Density functional theory calculations and catalyst stability are discussed to appreciate the challenges in designing catalysts. In addition, recent advances in the selective hydrogenation of CC of cinnamaldehyde to hydrocinnamaldehyde are briefly reviewed.

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