Hydrogenolysis of Guaiacol to Phenol Over Ru‐FeO x Nanoparticles Supported on TiO ₂

Phenol is an essential bulk chemical, which is mainly produced by the cumene process. Selective hydrodeoxygenation of biomass‐derived platform compounds has significant potential for producing this chemical. However, it is very challenging to balance the activity and selectivity. Herein, we report a novel catalyst (Ru/FeO x –TiO 2 ) fabricated by loading Ru and FeO x nanoparticles (NPs) onto a rutile TiO 2 support, which can effectively promote the selective hydrogenolysis of C Ar –OCH 3 bonds without obvious hydrogenation of the benzene ring using water as the reaction solvent, thereby achieving a phenol selectivity of 81.1% at a 90.4% conversion of guaiacol. The synergistic interaction between Ru and FeO x NPs weakens the adsorption of aromatic rings on the Ru surface, thereby reducing the formation of over‐hydrogenated byproducts. Meanwhile, the oxophilic nature of Fe species enables the selective adsorption of the methoxy group in guaiacol, which enables the adjacent Ru sites to achieve highly selective cleavage of the C Ar –OCH 3 bond. This work fundamentally reveals the relationship between synergistic metal‐support catalysis and catalytic performance, as well as providing an efficient catalytic strategy for producing valuable phenolic chemicals.