In situ reduction of Cu nanoparticles on Mg-Al-LDH for simultaneous efficient catalytic transfer hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol

Abstract

Herein, we report a simple and highly efficient approach for simultaneous in situ synthesis of Cu nanoparticles on Mg-Al-LDH (in situ reduced CuMgAl-LDH) from Cu-Mg-Al ternary LDH and catalytic transfer hydrogenation of furfural (FAL) to furfuryl alcohol (FOL) using isopropanol (2-PrOH) as a reducing agent and hydrogen source. The in situ reduced CuMgAl-LDH, especially Cu_1.5Mg_1.5Al₁-LDH as a precursor, offered excellent performance for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of FAL to FOL (achieving almost full conversion with 98.2% selectivity of FOL). Strikingly, the in situ reduced catalyst was robust and stable with a wide scope in the transfer hydrogenation of various biomass-derived carbonyl compounds.