Porous Zirconium-Furandicarboxylate Microspheres for Efficient Redox Conversion of Biofuranics

Biofuranic compounds, typically derived from C₅ and C₆ carbohydrates, have been extensively studied as promising alternatives to chemicals based on fossil resources. The present work reports the simple assembly of biobased 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) with different metal ions to prepare a range of metal-FDCA hybrids under hydrothermal conditions. The hybrid materials were demonstrated to have porous structure and acid-base bifunctionality. Zr-FDCA-T, in particular, showed a microspheric structure, high thermostability (ca. 400 °C), average pore diameters of approximately 4.7 nm, large density, moderate strength of Lewis-base/acid centers (ca. 1.4 mmol g^-1 ), and a small number of Brønsted-acid sites. This material afforded almost quantitative yields of biofuranic alcohols from the corresponding aldehydes under mild conditions through catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH). Isotopic ¹ H NMR spectroscopy and kinetic studies verified that direct hydride transfer was the dominant pathway and rate-determining step of the CTH. Importantly, the Zr-FDCA-T microspheres could be recycled with no decrease in catalytic performance and little leaching of active sites. Moreover, good yields of C₅ (i.e., furfural) or C₄ products [i.e., maleic acid and 2(5H)-furanone] could be obtained from furfuryl alcohol without oxidation of the furan ring over these metal-FDCA hybrids. The content and ratio of Lewis-acid/base sites were demonstrated to dominantly affect the catalytic performance of these redox reactions.