Catalytic Furfural Hydrogenation on Various Mesoporous Materials

Abstract

Interest in biomass conversion is increasing due to growing demand for environmentally friendly products and the replacement of petroleum-based chemicals. Because unsaturated oxygen compounds are abundant in degraded biomass components, catalytic conversion of biomass derivatives such as heterocyclic molecules containing alcohols or aldehyde components is important to improve basic understanding of the energy industry as well as various catalytic processes. In particular, furfural, a model compound, can be catalytically converted into furan, tetrahydrofuran, 2-methylfuran, furfuryl alcohol and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol through distinct reaction pathways depending on the type of catalysts and their surface properties. Porous materials have been widely used as catalysts because of their high surface area. Here, well-defined porous materials as noble metal-free catalysts have been applied to the furfural hydrogenation to help understand the catalytic phenomena such as active sites and metal-support interactions.