Selective hydrodeoxygenation of cyclic vicinal diols to cyclic alcohols over tungsten oxide-palladium catalysts

Hydrodeoxygenation of cyclic vicinal diols such as 1,4-anhydroerythritol was conducted over catalysts containing both a noble metal and a group 5-7 transition-metal oxide. The combination of Pd and WOx allowed the removal of one of the two OH groups selectively. 3-Hydroxytetrahydrofuran was obtained from 1,4-anhydroerythritol in 72 and 74% yield over WOx -Pd/C and WOx -Pd/ZrO2 , respectively. The WOx -Pd/ZrO2 catalyst was reusable without significant loss of activity if the catalyst was calcined as a method of regeneration. Characterization of WOx -Pd/C with temperature-programmed reduction, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy suggested that Pd metal particles approximately 9 nm in size were formed on amorphous tungsten oxide particles. A reaction mechanism was proposed on the basis of kinetics, reaction results with tungsten oxides under an atmosphere of Ar, and density functional theory calculations. A tetravalent tungsten center (W(IV) ) was formed by reduction of WO3 with the Pd catalyst and H2 , and this center served as the reductant for partial hydrodeoxygenation.