Supported ruthenium catalysts for the aqueous-phase selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol

Abstract

One of the products that can be obtained from biomass by thermal dehydration of sugars is furfural which has great potential as a renewable chemical platform for obtaining bioproducts. Through hydrogenation of furfural, it is possible to obtain furfuryl alcohol which is a chemical intermediate for other high-value products. Furthermore, hydrogenation in the aqueous phase has economic and environmental advantages. In this paper, a series of Ru-based catalysts supported on different materials (activated carbon (C), gamma alumina (A), zirconia-alumina (Z-A) and phosphated zirconia-alumina (ZP-A)) were synthesized and evaluated in the furfural hydrogenation to furfuryl alcohol. Catalyst performance was studied under relatively mild reaction conditions, 1.25 MPa H2 pressure, 90 °C and water as solvent. The results found support the idea that the catalytic activity not only depends on metal particle size and metallic dispersion but also on the characteristics of the support. N2 physisorption, XRD, TGA, SEM, TEM, TPR, TPD-NH3 and XPS characterizations supplied valuable information that allowed correlating the structure with the activity of the catalysts. Ru/ZP-A, the system with the best performance, gave a conversion of 62% and a selectivity of 97% toward furfuryl alcohol.