Highly efficient catalytic transfer hydrogenation of biomass-derived furfural to furfuryl alcohol using UiO-66 without metal catalysts

In this paper, the as-prepared metal-organic frameworks material UiO-66 and other Zr-MOFs were directly used as catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) catalysts to catalyze furfural (FF) to furfuryl alcohol (FAL) with 2-propanol (IPA) acted as both solvent and hydrogen donor. The results showed that the as-prepared UiO-66 had satisfactory catalytic activity and selectivity in yielding FAL (97 %) from the CTH of FF at 140 °C within 5 h. Moreover, the as-prepared UiO-66 exhibited relatively stable catalytic activity over five cycles and easy regeneration. Interestingly, UiO-66 was also applicable for the CTH of the other aldehydes such as 5-hydroxymethyfurfural, 5-methylfurfural, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, and n-hexanal to the corresponding alcohols, affording high product yields up to 98 %. This work provides a green, simple and sustainable process for the catalytic production of FAL from biomass-based furfural, which has certain significance for the sustainable utilization of biomass.