Hierarchically modifying Zr-Beta zeolite via alkali treatment for enhanced production of furfuryl alcohol via furfural catalytic transfer hydrogenation

Hierarchical Zr-Beta zeolite is realized by the alkali treatment. • Alkali treatment facilitates the conversion of closed Zr sites to open Zr sites. • The open Zr sites are characteristic of Lewis acidity. • Hierarchical Zr-Beta zeolite possess high activity and selectivity in furfural hydrogenation. The catalytic hydrogenation of furfural (FF) into furfuryl alcohol (FAL) is one of the key reactions in the valorization of biomass-derived platform compounds into value-added chemicals and fuels. The present study demonstrates that hierarchically modifying Zr-Beta zeolite (h-Zr-Beta zeolite) via alkali treatment can promote the activity and selectivity in the catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of FF to FAL, with the FAL formation rate of 8.8 mmol FAL g −1 h −1 . Comprehensive experimental and characterization studies reveal that alkali treatment, not only increases mesoporous within Zr-Beta zeolite, promoting the accessibility of internal active sites within the zeolite, but also increases the proportion of open Zr sites (11.6–54.5%). The consequently enhanced Lewis acidity (4.2 mmol g −1 to 8.8 mmol g −1 ) promotes the selective hydrogenation of FF to FAL. This work provides an efficient strategy for the fabrication of open sites within heteroatom zeolites, which could be of great help for the design of Lewis acid zeolite for Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) reactions in biomass catalysis. Download: Download high-res image (176KB) Download: Download full-size image We constructed a hierarchically porous Zr-Beta zeolite for the transfer hydrogenation of furfural into furfuryl alcohol via modification of Zr-Beta zeolite to generate open Zr active sites using alkali treatment