Furfural has excellent potential for the production of versatile furanic platform molecules that can be upgraded to high carbon fuel precursors. 2-Methylfuran is one of the most important derivatives of furfural. The hydrogenation of furfural to 2-methylfuran results in the formation of by-products (n-butanal and 2-pentanone). Implementing all the primary and by-products from the hydrogenation reaction for the production of high carbon fuel precursors allows the complete utilization of the lignocellulosic xylose derived furfural. In this work, a self-condensation reaction of 2-methylfuran and its cross-condensation reactions with furfural, n-butanal and 2-pentanone have been implemented to produce C14 and C15 fuel precursors. Sulfonic acid based catalysts with and without alkyl chain linkers supported on silica nanoparticles (NP), MCM-41, SBA-15, and KCC-1 were synthesized to evaluate the effect of catalyst morphology on activity and selectivity. The correlation between the different support systems and corresponding activity was studied using SEM, TEM, BET, FTIR, and TGA before and after the reaction. Among the synthesized catalysts, sulfonic acid-functionalized KCC-1 (KCC-1SO₃H) and 3-((3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl) thio) propane-1-oxy-sulfonic acid-functionalized (KCC-1APSO₃H) showed higher conversion and selectivity for the self-condensation and cross-condensation reactions, respectively. The effects of various parameters on the activity and selectivity, such as the reaction time and temperature, were studied. The catalysts have substantial hydrolytic stability in the presence of water and retain their acidity over multiple reaction cycles. The low cost, high activity, and pronounced stability of these fibrous nano silica-based catalysts indicate a promising future application in the biorefinery industries.

中文翻译：

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呋喃基平台分子在磺酸官能化的二氧化硅载体上与C ₁₄ -C ₁₅燃料前体的缩合的全面研究

糠醛具有生产多种呋喃平台分子的巨大潜力，这些分子可以升级为高碳燃料前体。2-甲基呋喃是糠醛最重要的衍生物之一。糠醛加氢成2-甲基呋喃会导致副产物（正丁醛和2-戊酮）的形成。通过实施氢化反应的所有主要产物和副产物来生产高碳燃料前体，可以完全利用木质纤维素木糖衍生的糠醛。在这项工作中，2-甲基呋喃的自缩合反应及其与糠醛的交叉缩合反应，n已经实施了-丁醛和2-戊酮生产C14和C15燃料的前体。合成了在二氧化硅纳米颗粒（NP），MCM-41，SBA-15和KCC-1上负载有和没有烷基链连接基的磺酸基催化剂，以评估催化剂形态对活性和选择性的影响。在反应之前和之后，使用SEM，TEM，BET，FTIR和TGA研究了不同支撑系统与相应活性之间的相关性。在合成的催化剂中，磺酸官能化的KCC-1（KCC-1SO ₃ H）和3-（（3-（三甲氧基甲硅烷基）丙基）硫代）丙烷-1-氧基磺酸官能化的（KCC-1APSO ₃H）分别显示出对于自缩合和交叉缩合反应的更高的转化率和选择性。研究了各种参数对活性和选择性的影响，例如反应时间和温度。催化剂在水的存在下具有显着的水解稳定性，并在多个反应循环中保持其酸度。这些纤维状纳米二氧化硅基催化剂的低成本，高活性和明显的稳定性表明在生物精炼工业中有希望的未来应用。