Efficient reductive etherification of furfural into furfuryl ethyl ether on Pd/Nb2O5 nanomaterials

Furfuryl ethyl ether (FEE), an important gasoline additive, is synthesized by a one-step reductive etherification of furfural (FF) by Nb 2 O 5 nanowires loaded with Pd as catalysts. Compared with other materials, the catalyst had a suitable synergistic effect between the reductive sites Pd 0 and the acidic sites of Nb 2 O 5 nanowires, effectively improving the yield of FEE. In ethanol, at 453 K and under 1 MPa H 2 pressure, the catalyst 1.0 wt% Pd/Nb 2 O 5 showed excellent catalytic performance in the reductive etherification reaction, and the yield of FEE reached 87.7%, higher than Pd/C whose yield was 81%. This result showed a feasible way to simplify the FEE preparation process, thus reducing production costs.