At room temperature in water: efficient hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol with a Pt/SiC-C catalyst

Selective hydrogenation of furfural (FAL) to furfuryl alcohol (FOL) is challenging because of many side reactions. The highly selective hydrogenation of FAL to FOL can be achieved over a Pt catalyst supported on nanoporous SiC-C composites even at room temperature in water. A Pt/SiC-C-200-H₂ catalyst, which had a Pt loading of 3 wt% and was reduced in flowing hydrogen at 500 °C after calcination in air at 200 °C for 2 h, furnished complete FAL conversion and over 99% selectivity to FOL at 25 °C under 1 MPa of hydrogen in water. The kinetic behaviour of the selective hydrogenation of FAL to FOL with the 3 wt% Pt/SiC-C-200-H₂ catalyst was also investigated and the turnover frequency (TOF) reached 1148 h^-1. Moreover, the Pt/SiC-C catalyst is more active than other Pt catalysts supported on ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-3, activated carbon, periodic mesoporous silica SBA-15 or Al₂O₃. Detailed characterization using XRD, N₂-sorption, SEM, TEM and XPS techniques reveals that the striking performance of the Pt/SiC-C catalyst can be attributed to the optimal metal-support interaction and the interfacial effect.