F-containing ionic liquid–catalyzed benign and rapid hydrogenation of bio-based furfural and relevant aldehydes using siloxane as hydrogen source

Furfuryl alcohol (FOL) is one of the versatile molecules in the chemical industry, and can be obtained from the biomass-derived furfural (FAL) via selective hydrogenation. In this study, a mild and rapid protocol was developed for the efficient reduction of FAL to FOL in the presence of an eco-friendly ionic liquid tetrabutylammonium fluoride ([TBA]F) using 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane (TMDS) as the hydrogen source. After reacting at room temperature for 5 min, a high FOL yield of 97% with a remarkable TOF value of 310 h−1 could be achieved. The activation of TMDS with fluoride was found to play a key role in the acceleration of the hydrogenation process, and ATR-FTIR and HR-MS were used to verify the possible reaction pathway.