Catalytic transfer hydrogenation of furfural into furfuryl alcohol over Ni-Fe-layered double hydroxide catalysts

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and their derivatives have been reported to be widely used as heterogeneous catalysts in various reactions. Herein, Ni-Fe LDHs with the controlled Ni/Fe molar ratios (2:1, 3:1, 4:1) were synthesized via an easy hydrothermal method, which were used to catalyze the selective reduction of biomass-derived furfural into furfuryl alcohol using 2-propanol as a H-donor under autogenous pressure and characterized using FT-IR, XRD, TGA, BET, SEM, NH3-TPD, and CO2-TPD. It was found that the LDH with a Ni/Fe molar ratio of 3:1 demonstrated the best catalytic activity among the LDHs with different Ni/Fe molar ratios, which showed 97.0% conversion of furfural and 90.2% yield of furfuryl alcohol at 140 degrees C for 5 hr. This was attributable to the synergistic effect of acidic sites and basic sites of the catalyst.