Electrochemical Hydrogenation of Furfural in Aqueous Acetic Acid Media with Enhanced 2‐Methylfuran Selectivity Using CuPd Bimetallic Catalysts. Issue 13 (3rd February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Peng; Li, Linbo; Mosali, Venkata Sai Sriram; Chen, Yu; Luan, Peng; Gu, Qinfen; Turner, David R.; Huang, Liang; Zhang, Jie
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 61:Issue 13(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2022-02-03
• Subjects: 2-Methylfuran -- CuPd Bimetallic Catalyst -- Electrochemical Hydrogenation -- Furfural; Selective Hydrogenation -- Pd Incorporation; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202117809
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

Abstract: Herein, we report a series of CuPd catalysts for electrochemical hydrogenation (ECH) of furfural to 2‐methylfuran (MF or FurCH3 where Fur=furyl) in aqueous 0.1 M acetic acid (pH 2.9). The highest faradaic efficiency (FE) for MF reached 75 % at −0.58 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode with an average partial current density of 4.5 mA cm −2 . In situ surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopic and kinetic isotopic experiments suggested that electrogenerated adsorbed hydrogen (Hads ) was involved in the reaction and incorporation of Pd enhanced the surface coverage of Hads and optimized the adsorption pattern of furfural, leading to a higher FE for MF. Density functional theory calculations revealed that Pd incorporation reduced the energy barrier for the hydrogenation of FurCH2 * to FurCH3 *. Our study demonstrates that catalyst surface structure/composition plays a crucial role in determining the selectivity in ECH and provides a new strategy for designing advanced catalysts for ECH of bio‐derived oxygenates. Abstract : Incorporation of Pd enhanced the selectivity of Cu catalysts for the electrochemical hydrogenation of furfural to 2‐methylfuran in an aqueous 0.1 M acidic acid solution. The origin of the superior performance was revealed by in situ surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic and kinetic isotopic measurements and density functional theory calculations.