Ping-Xiao Liu, Ping-Xiao Liu, Luyang Sun
Jul 1, 2020
Citations
0
Influential Citations
23
Citations
Journal
Molecular Catalysis
Abstract
Abstract 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, a biomass-derived chemical, is an important solvent with broad applications in organic chemistry. In this study, one-pot conversion of furfural into 2-methyltetrahydrofuran over non-precious metal catalysts was achieved by two-stage packing in a single reactor. The first stage converted furfural into 2-methylfuran over Co-based catalysts, and the second stage converted 2-methylfuran into 2-methyltetrahydrofuran over Ni-based catalysts. In order to reveal the reaction pathway and mechanism of this process, the hydrogenation reactions of 2-methylfuran, furfuryl alcohol, and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol were also carefully investigated. It is discovered that the conversion of furfural into 2-methylfuran could be catalyzed by Lewis acid sites, which was confirmed by a correlation between 2-methylfuran production rate and Lewis acid site density. Also, a mechanism on the direct conversion of furfural into 2-methylfuran without forming furfuryl alcohol as the intermediate is proposed. The experimental results of 2-methylfuran, furfuryl alcohol, and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol hydrogenation/hydrodeoxygenation over various catalysts provided valuable information on the future design of 2-methyltetrahydrofuran catalyst.