Effect of tunable acidic properties on the selectivity of biofuel candidate 2,5‐bis (propoxymethyl)furan (BPMF) using Sn‐Hβ and Sn‐dAlHβ catalysts

Abstract

Abstract2,5‐Bis(propoxymethyl)furan (BPMF) is a potential biofuel candidate but it is difficult to synthesize it selectively. The Lewis acid sites and Brønsted acid sites of the catalyst play a key role BPMF's selectivity. In the present work, the effect of tunable acidic properties such as the Lewis and Brønsted acidity of Sn‐Hβ and Sn‐dAlβ (Sn in dealuminated Hβ) catalysts on the selectivity of BPMF was studied by carrying out one‐pot reductive etherification of 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (5‐HMF) using 2‐propanol as a hydrogen donor. The catalysts that were prepared underwent analysis using techniques such as temperature‐programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3‐TPD), powder X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, pyridine‐IR spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area measurement, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Under the optimized reaction conditions, which included a temperature of 150 °C, a catalyst loading of 0.25 g, a reaction time of 4 h, and a concentration of 1 g of 5‐HMF, impressive results were obtained: 93.57% conversion of 5‐HMF and 98.54% selectivity towards BPMF. It was observed that the catalysts remained active for up to five cycles and slight/moderate change was observed in the conversion of 5‐HMF, while the selectivity of BPMF remained intact.