Selective carbon-chain increasing of renewable furfural utilizing oxidative condensation reaction catalyzed by mono-dispersed palladium oxide

A novel carbon-chain increasing valorization of furfural (FUR), a cheap bio-based platform compound, has been successfully performed via the catalytic oxidative condensation process with mono-dispersed palladium oxide catalyst. For the reaction of furfural, n-propanol and O 2 , the PdO@TiO 2 exhibited a prominent catalytic activity in which a 77.8% conversion of FUR with 89.2% selectivity of 3-(furan-2-yl)-2-methylacrylaldehyde was obtained. Based on the XRD, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, XPS, and UV–vis results of catalysts, it was concluded that high activity is associated with particle size, uniform distribution of palladium oxide and surface area of the support. Moreover, the recycling experiments confirmed that mono-dispersed palladium oxide catalyst was stable, in which it still kept a good catalytic performance after being recycled for five times. This provided a new route for the selective transformation of the hemicellulose-derived platform compounds.