Furfural is a key bioderived platform molecule, and its hydrogenation affords access to a number of important chemical intermediates that can act as “drop-in” replacements to those derived from crude oil or novel alternatives with desirable properties. Here, the vapour phase hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol at 180 °C over standard impregnated nickel catalysts is reported and contrasted with the same reaction over copper chromite. Whilst the selectivity to furfuryl alcohol of the unmodified nickel catalysts is much lower than for copper chromite as expected, the activity of the nickel catalysts in the vapour phase is significantly higher, and the deactivation profile remarkably similar. In the case of the supported nickel catalysts, possible contribution to the deactivation by acidic sites on the catalyst support is discounted based on the similarity of deactivation kinetics on Ni/SiO₂ with those seen for less acidic Ni/TiO₂ and Ni/CeO₂. Powder X-ray diffraction is used to exclude sintering as a primary deactivation pathway. Significant coking of the catalyst (~ 30 wt% over 16 h) is observed using temperature programmed oxidation. This, in combination with the solvent extraction analysis and infrared spectroscopy of the coked catalysts points to deactivation by polymeric condensation products of (reactant or) products and hydrocarbon like coke. These findings pave the way for targeted modification of nickel catalysts to use for this important biofeedstock-to-chemicals transformation.

糠醛是生物衍生的关键平台分子，其氢化作用提供了许多重要的化学中间体的途径，这些中间体可以作为原油或具有理想性能的新型替代品的“直接替代品”。在此，报道了在180℃下在标准浸渍的镍催化剂上将糠醛气相氢化成糠醇，并将其与在亚铬酸铜上的相同反应进行对比。尽管未改性的镍催化剂对糠醇的选择性比预期的对亚铬酸铜低得多，但镍催化剂在气相中的活性明显较高，并且失活曲线非常相似。对于负载型镍催化剂，₂与那些看到了少酸性镍/二氧化钛₂和Ni /的CeO ₂。粉末X射线衍射用于排除烧结作为主要的失活途径。使用程序升温氧化观察到催化剂显着结焦（16小时内〜30 wt％）。结合焦化催化剂的溶剂萃取分析和红外光谱，这表明（反应物或）产物与烃类焦炭的聚合缩合产物失活。这些发现为镍催化剂的靶向改性铺平了道路，以用于这种重要的生物原料到化学品的转化。