Furfural hydrogenation to 2‐methylfuran over efficient sol‐gel copper‐cobalt/zirconia catalyst

Abstract

2-Methylfuran (MF) is a candidate to be a high-quality fuel additive. For the first time, efficient Co-Cu/ZrO 2 catalysts were prepared by the sol-gel method and herein used for MF synthesis from furfural. Although a 9.2% MF yield and no MF was obtained using Cu/ZrO 2 and Co/ZrO 2 , respectively, a 77.5% MF yield was observed at 200 C, under 1.5 MPa initial H 2 pressure for 4 hours using a Co-Cu/ZrO 2 catalyst. The Co amount was changed in the catalyst structure and the effect of the Co amount on furfural hydrogenation was investigated. The most effective catalyst was the Co-Cu/ZrO 2 catalyst, with 0.08 g/g (8 mass%) Cu and 0.118 g/g (11.8 mass%) Co. The activity tests of the catalysts were carried out for hydrogenation of furfural to MF by changing reaction parameters such as pressure, loading of catalyst, temperature, and time. A 94.1% MF yield was achieved in the presence of the Co-Cu/ZrO 2 catalyst with 0.08 g/g (8 mass%) Cu and 0.118 g/g (11.8 mass%) Co at 200 C for 6 hours under 1.5 MPa H 2 pressure. The catalyst also showed good reusability properties after the fifth use. The catalysts were characterized by Brunauer-Emmet-Teller method, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and temperature programmed reduction techniques.

Direct and transfer hydrogenation of furfural over MOF‐derived Pd‐Cu@C catalysts

“…When the Pd/Cu molar ratio increased to 2:100, the FF conversion of Pd‐Cu@CN reached 99.3%, but the FFA selectivity decreased to 91.7% because of the ring hydrogenation and hydrodeoxygenation reaction occurred to form THFA and 2‐MF. [ 35 ] Especially, when the Pd/Cu molar ratio exceeded 1:100, the catalytic activity of Pd‐Cu@CN increased slowly (Figure S2). Considering the catalyst cost and catalytic activity, the appropriate Pd/Cu molar ratio was 1:100.…”

Biomass-derived 2-methyltetrahydrofuran platform: a focus on precious and non-precious metal-based catalysts for the biorefinery

“…30 It was confirmed that the larger pore size of ZrO 2 (8 nm) compared with Al 2 O 3 (3 nm) and its additional acidity was instrumental for MTHF production. While most studies did not mention the phase of ZrO 2 employed for conversions, Du et al, 30 Patankar et al, 219 and Akmaz et al 286 further confirmed the phase of the ZrO 2 by XRD analysis to be tetragonal during MTHF production; the tetragonal zirconia is known to be far more catalytic than the other phases. [287][288][289] Though the ZrO x phase was not confirmed by Xie et al, adding ZrO 2 to traditional Lewis acid support (Al 2 O 3 ) resulted in a larger SSA of 628.8 m 2 g −1 and pore volume of 0.64 cm 3 g −1 .…”

Catalytic synthesis of renewable 2-methylfuran from furfural

“…Likewise, Li et al 25 reported that the Ni–Cu/C catalyst attained a high yield of 98% of 2-MF. The Co–Cu/ZrO 2 catalyst reported by Akmaz et al 26 achieved a 94.1% yield of 2-MF at 200 °C. Moreover, the Co-CoO x /AC catalyst, as reported by Zhang et al , 27 stood out for operating at the lowest reaction temperature, as low as 120 °C, yet yielding 87.4% of 2-MF (see Table 1).…”