Potential of (La-)NiCu catalysts for the hydrodeoxygenation of 4-(2-furanyl)-3-buten-2-one into fuels: investigation of support and La addition

Aiming at the valorization of furfural-derived compounds, the potential of (La-)NiCu catalysts for the hydrodeoxygenation of 4-(2-furanyl)-3-buten-2-one has been assessed. The impact of support acidity and the effects of modifying the support with La have been explored. While catalysts with non-acidic supports solely lead to hydrogenation, the acid sites enable furanic ring opening. Additionally, changing the support alters the metal-support interaction strength, with stronger interactions reducing the NiCu alloy particle size and increasing activity. Furthermore, according to Density of States calculations, La further enhances the hydrodeoxygenation activity by increasing the adsorption strength. Also, for the acidic supports, it increases the relative abundance of NiCu alloy on the support surface, further increasing the specific activity. The La-NiCu-Al catalyst demonstrated was the best performing catalyst at 200°C and 40bar H2, achieving a high conversion rate of 77mol kgcat-1 h-1 with a combined selectivity of 29% towards octane and BTHF at 99% conversion, and stability over 5hours time on stream. Additionally, isopropyl alcohol proved to be an excellent hydrogen donor, as the external H2 pressure does not substantially impact the catalyst activity and selectivity, but H2 itself proved to be important for the catalyst stability.