Regulating Hydrogen Migration at Cu/La ₂ O ₃ Interfaces via Defect-Carbon-Mediated Oxygen-Related Defect Engineering

Upgrading biomass-derived platform molecules into liquid fuels is vital for sustainable biorefineries. However, selectively hydrogenating sterically hindered carbonyls, such as 2-acetylfuran (2-AF), remains difficult. The main challenge lies in targeting the C═O bond while avoiding the side reactions associated with the highly reactive furan ring. To address this activity-selectivity trade-off, we developed a defect-carbon-mediated interfacial engineering strategy to construct robust Cu/La2O3/C catalysts via a green, glucose-assisted sol–gel route. Unlike conventional inert carbon supports, the in situ-generated defect-rich carbon plays a pivotal dual role: it not only physically confines Cu nanoparticles to prevent sintering but also chemically induces the restructuring of the La–O framework during reduction. Advanced in situ characterizations (Raman, DRIFTS) combined with DFT calculations suggest the possible formation of Cu+–Ov–La3+ interfacial structures. These motifs are proposed as plausible structural features that may correlate with hydrogen spillover and carbonyl activation. Consequently, the optimized Cu/La2O3/C-350R catalyst achieves nearly quantitative conversion (>98%) and exclusive selectivity (100%) for 1-(furan-2-yl)ethanol, outperforming carbon-free counterparts at 160 °C. This work establishes a scalable protocol for coupling vacancy chemistry with hydrogen transfer dynamics, offering new insights for designing robust non-noble metal catalysts in biomass valorization.