Efficient Cu catalyst for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural hydrogenolysis by forming Cu-O-Si bonds

• Published in: Catalysis science & technology Vol. 1; no. 21; pp. 7323 - 733
• Main Authors: Zhu, Yifeng, Kong, Xiao, Peng, Bo, Li, Luping, Fang, Zhen, Zhu, Yulei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 07.11.2020
• Subjects: Catalysis; Catalysts; Cations; Copper; Fuel additives; Homology; Hydrogenolysis; Hydroxymethylfurfural; Silicates; Silicon dioxide; Transition metals
• ISSN: 2044-4753; 2044-4761
• DOI: 10.1039/d0cy01032d

Selective hydrogenolysis of C-O bonds of biomass derived precursors has been identified as a promising and essential way to produce fuel additives. Supported transition metals were explored to give efficient reactivity commonly based on a bifunctionality strategy. Here, we report that covalent bonding between SiO 2 and Cu features a homologous bifunctional catalyst with metallic Cu and Lewis acidic Cu cations. The catalyst gave superior reactivity for the conversion of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural into 2,5-dimethylfuran. Lewis acidic cations had more predominant roles than metallic sites for C-O hydrogenolysis by stretching and dissociating C-O bonds, whereas they remained inactive for C&z.dbd;C bonds. The results rationalize the valence-state-sensitive catalysis for chemistry involving C-O cleavage. The covalent metal-O-Si bonding provides an alternative for developing efficient catalysts since silicates with such a feature are versatile in nature. Strong covalent bonding (Cu-O-Si) modulates the Cu status and boosts the C-O hydrogenolysis.