Catalytic Hydrogenation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural to Hexanetriol

摘要

The catalytic conversion of furan derivatives,furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural(HMF),to valuable chemicals is of great importance due to the increase in carbon emissions and decrease in fossil fuels.In this manuscript,1,2,5-hexanetriol was transformed to HMF through a two steps procedure.The HMF was first hydrogenated to 1-hydroxyhexane-2,5-dione(HHD).The reaction scale could be enlarged from 1 mmol to 50 mmol of the reactant with a similar yield of HHD,and the purity of HHD was over 95% after a simple extraction.Then the HHD was hydrogenated to 1,2,5-hexanetriol on Ru/C at very mild reaction conditions.The parameters of pressure,solvent,the concentration of HHD,reaction time and temperature on the hydrogenation of HHD were investigated to find the optimal reaction conditions.The 1,2,5-hexanetriol could be obtained from HMF in a one-pot reaction by removing the Pd/C and adding Ru/C after the HMF hydrogenation step.The fresh and used Pd/C and Ru/C were characterized by XRD,TEM,XPS,and the Ru/C was further characterized by EDS mappings.The characterization showed partial agglomeration of Pd occurred after the Pd/C was used.The Ru/C had a narrow Ru distribution and was stable under the reaction conditions.The Ru/C could be used at least 5 times.This manuscript showed an easy route for the production of valuable chemicals from renewable biomass furan derives.