One-Pot\nHydrogenation of Furfural into Tetrahydrofurfuryl\nAlcohol under Ambient Conditions over PtNi Alloy Catalyst

Abstract

Furfural (FAL), a promising renewable platform compound\nfrom biomass,\ncan be totally hydrogenated to an industrially important platform\nchemical, tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA). In this work, a high\nyield of THFA was obtained by one-pot hydrogenation of FAL over a\nPtNi catalyst under mild reaction conditions. Small PtNi alloy particles\nwere well distributed on active carbon. The catalysts were characterized\nby several physical–chemical technologies (transmission electron\nmicroscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and\ninductively coupled plasma spectroscopy). Temperature-programmed reduction\nwith hydrogen and in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrate\nthe presence of PtNi alloy. The electron-rich metal Pt could facilitate\nthe heterolytic dissociation of hydrogen and promote the hydrogenation\nof FAL. Pt sites on the surface facilitate the adsorption at aldehyde\n(CO) groups, and the furan ring strongly adsorbs on the Ni\nsurface. Low reaction temperature is advantageous to reduce side reactions.\nVarious metal concentrations were employed in this reaction; Pt(3)­Ni(3)/C\ncatalyst exhibits the best performance, achieving 99% FAL conversion\nand 93% THFA yield at 35 °C and under 2 MPa H₂.