Heterogeneous Catalytic Transformation of Biomass-Derived Furans to Selectively Produce C₄ Chemicals with the Simulated Sunlight

Catalytic transformation of biomass resources to synthesize the value-added C4 chemicals has attracted wide attention in the catalysis field. In this work, with the metal organic frameworks (MOFs) as the heterogeneous catalyst, the biobased furans including furoic acid (FAC) and furfuryl alcohol (FAL) were selectively transformed to 5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone (HFO) and succinic anhydride (SAN) in the presence of molecular oxygen. For instance, a 99.0% conversion with 95.6% selectivity of SAN was obtained by using Hf-TCPP as a photocatalyst under the optimal conditions. The EPR detection showed that generation of singlet oxygen plays a crucial role in the conversion of furanic derivatives. Moreover, the recycling experiments verified that these catalysts can remain stable and are reusable in the photocatalytic reaction.