Highly selective hydrogenation of furfural and levulinic acid over Ni0.09Zn/NC600 derived from ZIFW-8

Highly selective hydrogenation of furfural and levulinic acid (LA) was studied over Ni 0.09 Zn/NC 600 derived from zeolitic imidazolate frameworks. The existence of active Ni 3 ZnC 0.7 particles in Ni 0.09 Zn/NC 600 was confirmed by multiple characterizations. As a result, over Ni 0.09 Zn/NC 600 , 99.7% of furfural conversion (FC) and 100% of furan-2-ylmethanol selectivity (FMS) were achieved in isopropanol (IP) at 170 °C for 2 h, while FC and (tetrahydrofuran-2-yl)methanol (THFM) selectivity are 97.5% and 86.4% in water at 150 °C for 1 h. Over the same catalyst, LA was completely converted to γ-valerolactone in water at 95 °C for 0.5 h. The catalyst is still highly active after 6 cycles of recycling with 92.8% of FC and 100% of FMS in IP at 170 °C for 1.5 h and 90.1% of LA conversion and 100% of γ-valerolactone selectivity in water at 80 °C for 0.5 h.