Selective Hydrogenation of 5‐Hydroxymethylfurfural to 1‐Hydroxy‐2,5‐hexanedione by Biochar‐Supported Ru Catalysts
Lilia Longo, Somayeh Taghavi, Elena Ghedini, Federica Menegazzo, Alessandro Di Michele, Giuseppe Cruciani, Michela Signoretto
Abstract
Abstract The development of sustainable and efficient catalysts ‐namely Ru supported on activated biochars‐ is carried out for the selective hydrogenation of 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 1‐hydroxy‐2,5‐hexanedione (HHD). Activated biochars obtained from pyrolysis and steam‐based physical activation of two different biomasses from animal (leather tannery waste; A Lw ) and vegetal (hazelnut shells; A HSw ) origins show completely different chemical, textural, and morphological properties. Compared to A Lw , after impregnation with 0.5 wt % Ru, A HSw , with inner micro‐mesochannels and cavities and higher layer stacking disorder, leads to better trapping and anchoring of Ru nanoparticles on the catalyst and a suitable Ru single crystal dispersion. This leads to a highly active Ru/A HSw catalyst in the proposed reaction, giving more than 80 % selectivity to HHD and full HMF conversion at 100 °C with 30 bar H 2 for 3 h. Ru/A HSw also shows promising performance compared to a commercial Ru/C catalyst.