Taming the butterfly effect: modulating catalyst nanostructures for better selectivity control of the catalytic hydrogenation of biomass-derived furan platform chemicals

Abstract

The metal-catalyzed hydrogenation of biomass-derived furan platform chemicals typically represented by 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural is a critical pathway for biomass valorization. However, due to the diversity of their hydrogenation routes, rationally controlling the catalytic hydrogenation selectivity has been regarded to be of high technical difficulty. As is well known, the catalytic selectivity has presented high sensitivity to the structural properties of metal-supported catalysts, which makes it necessary to analyze the potential effects of modulating intrinsic catalyst nanostructures on precisely regulating catalytic selectivity. On this account, in this review, the core concern is mainly focused on the elaboration of the relationship between catalyst nanostructure modulation and catalytic hydrogenation selectivity. A referable framework involving the modulation approaches to intrinsic metal particles, metal particle–organic ligand, metal particle–metal particle, metal particle–catalyst support, metal particle–acid site nanostructures are proposed herein for better understanding the impacts of their mechanisms on the catalytic selectivity. The perspectives presented herein will potentially contribute to fostering positive inspirations to develop novel catalyst modulation strategies for the targeted regulation of catalytic selectivity.