Ring Opening of Cyclic Ether for Selective Synthesis of Renewable 1,5-Pentanediol over Pt/WO3@SiO2 Catalysts

In this paper, the WO3 embedded in a mesoporous SiO2 framework (WO3@SiO2) was developed using a facile modified sol–gel method and further applied as a support of Pt/WO3@SiO2 catalysts during impregnation. The ring opening of cyclic ether, such as biomass-derived tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA), for the selective synthesis of renewable 1,5-pentanediol (1,5-PeD) was efficiently accomplished over Pt/WO3@SiO2 catalysts. This special nanocomposite structure provided both abundant active sites and strong synergistic coupling, thus significantly boosting the catalytic performances. The effects of reaction parameters, including the W/Si molar ratio, reaction time, reaction temperature, and reduction temperature, on the catalytic performances were also investigated. A high THFA conversion of 82.9% and a 1,5-PeD selectivity of 72.9% were achieved under the optimized reaction conditions. The preliminary characterization results suggested that the Brønsted acid sites of HxWO3 species with proper acid amounts played an important role in controlling the selective ring opening of THFA cyclic ether toward 1,5-PeD.