Au-catalyzed oxidative condensation of renewable furfural and ethanol to produce furan-2-acrolein in the presence of molecular oxygen

A specialty chemical compound, furan-2-acrolein, can be produced from renewable feedstock via furfural. An efficient catalytic process related to oxidative condensation of furfural and ethanol using supported Au catalyst has been developed. A series of solid catalysts including Au/Al2O3, Au/CeO2, Au/Fe3O4, Au/HTc (hydrotalcite calcined) and Au/Nb2O5 are prepared and their catalytic activities in oxidative condensation of furfural with ethanol are compared. Moreover, the influence of the presence of base promoters, such as K2CO3, on Au catalyst performance is investigated. The physical properties of these catalysts are characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM, UV-vis and BET techniques. The impact of reaction variables on catalyst performance is measured. It has been found that, in the presence of Au/Al2O3 and potassium carbonate, 94.1% conversion of furfural and 75.0% selectivity to furan-2-acrolein are obtained under the conditions of 140 degrees C, 0.3 MPa of O-2 and reaction time of 4 h. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.