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• MOF-derived Co/N C achieves highly selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol in H 2 O. • N-doping promotes H 2 dissociation and spillover, enhancing hydrogen activation on Co/N C. • N species tune acid-base sites, suppress side reactions, and enhance furfuryl alcohol selectivity. • Furfural reaches 98 % conversion with 95 % selectivity of furfuryl alcohol on Co/N C-700. The aqueous-phase hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol using non-noble metal catalysts is constrained by the low activity of catalysts, necessitating high temperatures and high hydrogen pressures, and posing challenges in controlling furfuryl alcohol selectivity. Herein, a Co nanoparticle catalyst supported on nitrogen-doped carbon derived from MOFs is reported, which adopts a synergistic strategy to enhance catalytic performance. The nitrogen doping simultaneously promotes hydrogen spillover on the catalyst surface and reduces surface acidity, thereby suppressing acid-catalyzed side reactions. This dual function enables the selective hydrogenation of - C = O groups to - CH 2 OH groups in water under mild conditions. Furfural reached 98% conversion with 95% selectivity of furfuryl alcohol at 135 °C and under hydrogen pressure close to atmospheric (0.4 MPa) in 2 h. This study allows a low energy-consuming method for producing furfuryl alcohol from hemicellulose-derived furfural, and provides a promising strategy for the conversion of renewable biomass-derived compounds into high value-added chemicals. The nitrogen-doped carbon-supported cobalt catalyst achieved efficient and selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol under mild aqueous conditions via hydrogen spillover and acidity shielding effects.
Yang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.