Cu nanoparticles anchored in MIL‐101 metal‐organic frameworks for the selective hydrogenation of CO2‐derived ethylene carbonates

Abstract The Cu‐based catalysts have been widely employed in the hydrogenation of CO 2 ‐derived ethylene carbonate (EC) to ethylene glycol (EG) and other derivatives, but still suffered from some problems such as unsatisfactory selectivity and catalyst stability. Herein, a Cu@MIL‐101 catalyst was prepared via a two‐solvent method to anchor copper (Cu) nanoparticles into the MIL‐101 metal organic frameworks, which exhibited superior catalytic performance with ∼100% conversion, 2‐hydroxyethyl formate (2‐HEF) selectivity of 82% at 160°C, or EG selectivity of ∼92% at 180°C. The characterization results showed that the Cu 0 and Cr 3+ species play a key role on the dissociation of H 2 and activation of C‐O and C=O bonds in the esters, and thus exhibited an excellent catalytic performance of the EC hydrogenation. In addition, the strong interaction between Cu 0 species and unsaturated coordination Cr 3+ species in the MIL‐101 framework resulted in the high stability. Since the product of methanol was not generated on the Cu@MIL‐101 catalyst, it is valuable to produce 2‐HEF by controlling the temperature of 160°C in the EC hydrogenation rection. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.