A robust strategy of homogeneously hybridizing silica and Cu₃(BTC)₂ to in situ synthesize highly dispersed copper catalyst for furfural hydrogenation

Catalyst deactivation caused by the metal sintering/leaching is still a great challenge confronted by the scientists. Herein, we report a robust strategy to in situ synthesize mesoporous silica supported highly dispersed copper catalyst by homogeneously hybridizing the silica and metal-organic framework (MOF) copper benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (Cu-3(BTC)(2)). We find the introducing silica is the key to the formation of homogeneous hybridization by regulating the growth of Cu-BTC crystallite, yielding various metal dispersion and reducibility during calcination; while the added BTC ligands acts as porous initiator, promoting the accessibility of copper centers for reactants. The optimized CuO#SiO2-s1 with molar ratio Cu/Si of 0.23, exhibits excellent catalytic performance towards the furfural hydrogenation, showing a high activity as 9.2 mol(FF) mol(cu)(-1) h(-1), nearly 100 % furfural alcohol selectivity and minimized activity decline (< 5%) after 5 repeated run. This work could open up a new avenue for the synthesis of mesoporous silica supported highly dispersed metal catalyst for hydrogenation.