Selective hydrogenation of furfural and levulinic acid to biofuels on the ecofriendly Cu-Fe catalyst

A series of chromium-free and noble-metal free Cu-Fe catalysts were successfully synthesized utilizing the inexpensive metal nitrates. Ecofriendly Cu-Fe catalysts exhibited highly efficient performance in the hydrogenation of biomass-derived furfural and levulinic acid, where biofuels (2-methylfuran and γ-valerolactone) were obtained at 51% and 90% yield under mild conditions, respectively. The synthesized Cu-Fe catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD) to elucidate the relationship between the physical property and their catalytic performance. Reaction parameters and the reaction pathways were also investigated. The Cu-Fe catalyst developed in this work is inexpensive, simple, and amenable to scale up, which makes it a promising candidate for the general conversion of biomass-derived monomers to biofuels.