Highly Efficient Chemoselective Hydrogenation of 5‐HMF to BHMF over Reusable Bimetallic Pd‐Ir/C Catalyst

Abstract Catalytic synergism was observed for a bimetallic Pd−Ir catalyst supported on activated carbon for chemoselective hydrogenation of 5‐hydroxymetahyl furfural (5‐HMF) to 2, 5‐(bishydroxymethyl) furan (BHMF) with complete conversion and 97 % selectivity under very mild reaction conditions. The structural characterization like XRD, N 2 sorption, FE‐SEM and TEM suggested formation of fine nanoparticles (1.95–3.08 nm) having very higher surface area, uniform distribution and mesoporous nature of the material. XPS spectra and Pyridine‐IR spectroscopy revealed formation of Pd‐PdO and Ir/IrO 2 /IrO 3 interface on the catalytic surface along with strong Brönsted acidic sites which were responsible for high efficiency of catalyst at 80 °C, 100 psig H 2 pressure at 5‐HMF/Catalyst=20 and within 2.5 h of reaction time. A plausible reaction mechanism is also elucidated based on structure activity correlation.