Selective conversion of 2-methylfuran to 3-acetyl-1-propanol in water over Pd@HZSM-5 catalyst with balanced metal-acid cooperation

Biomass is a promising renewable carbon resource, and bio-based platform molecules such as furan derivatives play an important role in the green manufacturing of high value-added chemicals. Of these, the conversion of 2-methylfuran (2-MF) to 3-acetyl-1-propanol (3-AP) over a bifunctional catalyst has attracted significant interest. However, bifunctional catalysts prepared by traditional method suffer from poor catalytic performance and limited stability due to the agglomeration of metal NPs. Here, Pd@HZSM-5, in which Pd NPs were encapsulated in HZSM-5 in situ showed improved stability and 3-AP yield. The highest yield of 3-AP (90.6%) to date was obtained with a nearly 100% conversion of 2-MF. The catalytic performance over a series of Pd@Zeolite confirms the superiority of the encapsulation effect, which is ascribed to the optimal adjustment of metal/acid balance. The Pd@HZSM-5 catalyst displayed excellent stability due to the encapsulation structure, which restricts the Pd NPs agglomeration. The highest yield of 3-AP was obtained at a high concentration of 2-MF (60%), which implies a promising strategy for the green industrial manufacture of 3-AP. This work reports a new bifunctional catalytic system for the green synthesis of 3-AP from 2-MF, thus stimulating the downstream biomass market.