Origin of the Activity of Co–N–C Catalysts for Chemoselective Hydrogenation of Nitroarenes

Highly Dispersed CoNi Alloy Embedded in N-doped Graphitic Carbon for Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation of Biomass-derived Furfural

The development of efficient, stable, and cost-effective heterogeneous catalysts for catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of biomass-derived furfural (FAL) is highly desired. Herein, series of N-doped graphitic carbon embedded CoNi bimetallic alloy nanoparticles were fabricated and used for the CTH of FAL to value-added furfuryl alcohol (FOL) with renewable isopropanol as hydrogen donor. Intrinsic catalytic activity examination indicated the catalytic performance of Ni_x Co_y @NGC (x:y=1 : 3, 1 : 1, 3 : 1) nanocatalysts were sensitive to their chemical compositions. The optimal Ni₁ Co₁ @NGC nanocatalyst with Ni/Co mole ratio of 1 : 1 afforded a largest FOL yield of 89.3% with nearly full conversion of FAL. The synergistic effect enabled by bimetallic alloys and the abundant N-based Lewis base sites and surface Co-N active species were revealed based on systematic structural characterization, responsible for the excellent catalytic efficiency of bimetallic Ni₁ Co₁ @NGC nanocatalyst for CTH of FAL.