Copper mixed metal oxide catalysts in the hydrogenolysis of 5-methylfurfuryl alcohol

• CuCrO2·CuO, CuFe2O4·CuO, and CuMn2O4·CuO catalysts were synthesized.
• The catalysts were tested in the hydrogenolysis of 5-methylfurfuryl alcohol.
• Catalyst activity was not proportional to metallic copper surface area.
• CuCrO2·CuO was the most active and CuMn2O4·CuO the least.

The hydrogenolysis of 5-methylfurfuryl alcohol to 2,5-dimethylfuran was investigated over CuCrO2·CuO, CuFe2O4·CuO, and CuMn2O4·CuO catalysts. The synthesized catalytic materials were extensively characterized. The Cu0 surface area of the catalysts varied from 0.3 to 20.4 m2/g. CuCrO2·CuO demonstrated higher activity relative to surface Cu0 than any of the other synthesized materials and had the same activity as a commercially available copper chromite catalyst. The Cu–Fe catalysts showed lower activities with coinciding lower selectivities when compared to the Cu–Cr catalysts. This behavior of the Cu–Fe catalyst may have been caused by the presence of Fe0. The CuMn2O4·CuO catalysts gave a similar selectivity to the Cu–Cr catalysts, but showed a dramatically lower activity than either the Cu–Cr or Cu–Fe catalysts with respect to Cu0 surface area. While the CuCrO2·CuO, CuCr2O4·CuO, and most active CuFe2O4·CuO catalyst all exhibited very comparable activity relative to Cu0 surface concentrations, the other catalysts became markedly less active.

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