MOF-derived well-structured bimetallic catalyst for highly selective conversion of furfural

Abstract Selective conversion of furfural can produce some important chemical intermediates. However, it is a challenge to design suitable catalysts due to the complex reaction route. A series highly dispersed Co-Ni alloy NPs embedded in porous nitrogen-containing carbon matrix multifunctional catalysts (xCo-yNi@NC) were prepared by pyrolysis of MOF template. The characterization results showed that Co-Ni alloy presented strong bimetallic synergistic effect and introduction of N species influenced the physicochemical properties of the catalyst, hence promoted the catalytic performance. Moreover, Lewis acid sites provided by metal oxide species can polarize the C O bond via lone pair electrons on the oxygen atom, which contribute to furfuryl alcohol formation and accelerate furfuryl alcohol rearrangement to 4-hydroxy-2-cycloentenone. In addition, the solvent played an important role in the product distribution. Under the optimized reaction conditions, 99.0% furfuryl alcohol yield was obtained in methanol solvent, while 92.5% cyclopentanone yield was obtained in water solvent over 2Co-1Ni@NC.