Solid acid-catalyzed conversion of furfuryl alcohol to alkyl tetrahydrofurfuryl ether

• HZSM-5 catalyzes furfuryl alcohol etherification with methanol and ethanol.
• Raney Ni hydrogenates alkyl furfuryl ether into alkyl tetrahydrofurfuryl ether.
• Alkyl tetrahydrofurfuryl ether improves the cetane number.

The acidic zeolite HZSM-5 (Si/Al = 25) achieved 58.9% selectivity of methyl furfuryl ether (MFE) and 44.8% selectivity of ethyl furfuryl ether (EFE) from etherification of furfuryl alcohol with methanol and ethanol. MFE and EFE were quantitatively hydrogenated into methyl tetrahydrofurfuryl ether (MTE) and ethyl tetrahydrofurfuryl ether (ETE) using a Raney Ni catalyst.

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