Manganese catalyzed transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of aldehydes is an attractive method for the synthesis of alcohols. Here, we report a novel and efficient MnO@C-N catalyst for the CTH of biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and other aldehydes to alcohols in high yields. Catalytic experimental studies showed that the MnO and nitrogen-doping are responsible for the high selectivity and high conversion, respectively. Isotopic labelling experiments demonstrated that the CTH of aldehydes to alcohols over MnO@C-N is via a route by direct hydrogen transfer. Kinetic studies revealed that the N-doping can improve the reaction rate and reduce the activation energy of the aldehydes conversion. DFT calculations also indicated that both pyridine N and pyrrolic N doping can reduce the energy barrier for acetone desorption by the interaction between N and hydroxyl-H of alcohol. Furthermore, MnO@C-N showed good recyclability for at least five reaction cycles. We anticipate that these results can drive progress in the manganese catalyzed transfer hydrogenation reaction.

醛的锰催化转移氢化（CTH）是合成醇的一种有吸引力的方法。在这里，我们报告了一种新颖高效的MnO @ CN催化剂，用于高产率地将生物质衍生的5-羟甲基糠醛和其他醛转化为醇。催化实验研究表明，MnO和氮掺杂分别负责高选择性和高转化率。同位素标记实验表明，醛在MnO @ CN上转化为醇的CTH是通过直接氢转移的途径进行的。动力学研究表明，氮掺杂可以提高反应速率，降低醛转化的活化能。DFT计算还表明，吡啶N和吡咯N掺杂均可通过N与醇的羟基-H之间的相互作用降低丙酮解吸的能垒。此外，MnO @ CN在至少五个反应循环中均显示出良好的可回收性。我们预期这些结果可以推动锰催化的转移氢化反应的进展。