The catalytic transfer hydrogenation of furfural to the fuel additives 2-methylfuran (2-MF) and 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MTHF) was investigated over various bimetallic catalysts in the presence of the hydrogen donor 2-propanol. Of all the as-prepared catalysts, bimetallic Cu-Pd catalysts showed the highest catalytic activities towards the formation of 2-MF and 2-MTHF with a total yield of up to 83.9 % yield at 220 °C in 4 h. By modifying the Pd ratios in the Cu-Pd catalyst, 2-MF or 2-MTHF could be obtained selectively as the prevailing product. The other reaction conditions also had a great influence on the product distribution. Mechanistic studies by reaction monitoring and intermediate conversion revealed that the reaction proceeded mainly through the hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol, which was followed by deoxygenation to 2-MF in parallel to deoxygenation/ring hydrogenation to 2-MTHF. Finally, the catalyst showed a high reactivity and stability in five catalyst recycling runs, which represents a significant step forward toward the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of furfural.

An efficient and robust bimetallic catalyst has been developed for the transfer hydrogenation of biomass derived ethyl levulinate to γ-valerolactone with 2-butanol as the hydrogen donor. Several bimetallic catalysts were prepared and characterized by Brunauer−Emmett−Teller, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray power diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry. They exhibited different catalytic activities in the catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) reaction. Results showed that 10Cu-5Ni/Al 2 O 3 had the highest activity, providing a 97% yield of GVL product in 12 h at 150 °C. The reaction temperature, reaction time and catalyst loading were also investigated and found to affect the product yield. The catalyst was also successfully applied to the CTH of various levulinate esters with different secondary alcohols. Comparing experiments between Cu−Ni and Cu catalysts and the poisoning experiments revealed that the introduction of Ni to Cu remarkably enhanced the catalyst's activity and stability, showing an outstanding recycling ability in the 10 runs recycling experiments without notable loss in the activity.

An electrochemical sulfonylation of alkynes with sodium sulfinates was achieved for the first time at room temperature. Employing this electrolysis strategy, the reaction occurs efficiently under transition-metal-free, external oxidant-free, and base-free conditions and furnishes diverse alkynyl sulfones in satisfactory yield with broad functional group tolerance.

An electrochemical oxydihalogenation of alkynes has been developed for the first time. Using this sustainable protocol, a variety of α,α-dihaloketones can be prepared with readily available CHCl3, CH2Cl2, ClCH2CH2Cl, and CH2Br2 as the halogen source under electrochemical conditions at room temperature.

The absorbent materials synthesized from biosources with low cost and high selectivity for oils and organic solvents have attracted increasing attention in the field of oil spillage and discharge of organic chemicals. We developed a convenient surface-grafting method to prepare efficient and recyclable biobased aerogels from epoxidized soybean oil (ESO)modified cellulose at room temperature. The porous network-like structure of the cellulose aerogel was still fully retained after undergoing hydrophobic modification with ESO. Moreover, the modified aerogels possessed excellent hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 132.6°. Moreover, the absorbent ability of the hydrophobic cellulose aerogels was systematically assessed. The results showed that modified aerogels could retain more than 90% absorption capacity even after 30 absorption− desorption cycles, indicating that the ESO-grafted cellulose aerogels have practical applications in the oil−water separation from industrial wastewater and oil-leakage removal.