Zn Impregnation onto a Zeolite-Supported Metal Catalyst for Improving the Synergy Between Metal and Acid Sites: Facilitating the Production of 3-Acetyl-1-propanol

3-Acetyl-1-propanol (3-AP) is a key intermediate in the pharmaceutical and pesticide industries, which can be synthesized from the biomass derivative 2-methylfuran (2-MF) through a one-step hydrogenation process with significant economic and environmental benefits. Zeolite-supported metal catalysts showed feasible application, but simply regulating the acidic sites was difficult to break the activity–selectivity balance. Traditional single-metal Pd-based catalysts still suffer from low dispersion. This study constructed the PdZn/TS-1 catalyst for the efficient conversion of 2-MF into 3-AP. The low electronegativity of Zn facilitates the electron transfer from Zn to Pd, forming an electron-rich Pd active center. A small amount of Zn embedded in the Pd lattice causes lattice contraction, optimizing the spatial configuration of active sites. The synergy between the electronic and structural effects significantly improves catalytic performance. Under optimized conditions, the conversion rate of 2-MF reached 80.6%, and the yield of 3-AP reached 69.1%, providing a new paradigm for the design of catalysts for the directed hydrogenation of furan derivatives.