Efficient and Selective Hydrogenation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-Dimethylfuran Over a Non-noble CoNCx/NiFeO Catalyst

Currently, there is tremendous interest in the discovery of efficient and low-cost catalysts for the selective hydrogenation of biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to the biofuel 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF). In this study, a CoNCx/NiFeO catalyst was synthesized by the adsorption of cobalt (II) phthalocyanine (CoPc) on ultrathin NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanosheets (NiFe-LDH), followed by mild pyrolysis of the resulting CoPc/NiFe-LDH composite at 550 °C under N2 for 5 h. XRD, TEM and XPS showed CoNCx/NiFeO to contain CoOx/Co0 and Ni0 nanoparticles on a NiFe-mixed metal oxide support. CoNCx/NiFeO showed very high initial activity and selectivity for the hydrogenation of HMF to DMF in tetrahydrofuran (THF) under mild reaction conditions (180 °C, 1.0 MPa H2, 6.0 h), evidenced by a 99.8% HMF conversion and 94.3% DMF selectivity. Reaction pathways for the conversion of HMF to DMF over CoNCx/NiFeO were revealed by monitoring the intermediates formed at different stages of the reaction.Graphical AbstractIn this study, a CoNCx/NiFeO catalyst was synthesized by the adsorption of cobalt (II) phthalocyanine (CoPc) on ultrathin NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanosheets (NiFe-LDH), which showed very high initial activity and selectivity for the hydrogenation of HMF to DMF.