Selective Hydrogenative Rearrangement of Furfural to Cyclopentanol over Alloyed Cu–Co Supported on Sulfur-Doped Coffee Biochar

Selective synthesis of cyclopentanol (CPL) from biomass-derived furfural (FAL) is highly attractive, but it still faces serious challenges. In this work, an alloyed Cu–Co catalyst derived from Cu–Co–Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) was grafted onto sulfur-doped coffee biochar for the first time (Cu–Co–Al/SCB). Cu–Co–Al/SCB achieved a maximum CPL yield of 97.5% and a high turnover frequency (TOF) of 15.6 h–1 in the selective hydrogenative rearrangement of FAL at 140 °C. The characterization results demonstrated that grafting Cu–Co–Al onto SCB results in the formation of Cu–Co alloys and a strong interaction between them. Further characterization and activity tests demonstrated that the formation of a highly dispersed Cu–Co alloy and in situ generated Brønsted acid sites collaboratively catalyzes the selective hydrogenative rearrangement of FAL to CPL over Cu–Co–Al/SCB, and the strong interaction between the Cu–Co alloy and sulfur-doped coffee biochar endowed Cu–Co–Al/SCB with remarkable stability. As a result, Cu–Co–Al/SCB is a promising catalyst for the selective hydrogenative rearrangement of FAL.