Xylose transformation into furfuryl alcohol was performed over modified BEA zeolites. BEA acidity was modified by incorporating Zr into zeolite by a post-synthesis procedure. HAlBEA showed to be selective towards furfuryl alcohol under reaction conditions used. Zr-containing zeolites were more active than the corresponding BEA catalysts but their efficiency to promote xylose conversion to furfuryl alcohol was related to Zr atoms incorporated in the framework. High Zr loadings generated isolated ZrO₂ which promoted xylose isomerization to xylulose. It was associated with the depletion of Brønsted acid sites since presence of Brønsted and Lewis acid centres are crucial for the cascade process to furfuryl alcohol. ZrHAlBEA catalyst exhibited no significant deactivation upon four reaction cycles. Products distribution was not affected either, indicating that Brønsted and Lewis acid sites are preserved under the reaction conditions. Neither Al nor Zr were leached from the catalysts structure, corroborating their chemical stability in aqueous phase.

在改性的BEA沸石上进行木糖到糠醇的转化。通过后合成方法将Zr掺入沸石中可改善BEA的酸度。在所使用的反应条件下，HAlBEA对糠醇具有选择性。含Zr沸石比相应的BEA催化剂更具活性，但它们促进木糖转化为糠醇的效率与并入骨架中的Zr原子有关。高Zr负载生成孤立的ZrO ₂促进木糖异构化为木酮糖。这与布朗斯台德酸位的减少有关，因为布朗斯台德和路易斯酸中心的存在对于糠醇的级联过程至关重要。ZrHAlBEA催化剂在四个反应周期中均未表现出明显的失活。产物分布也不受影响，表明在反应条件下保留了布朗斯台德和路易斯酸位。Al和Zr都没有从催化剂结构中浸出，证实了它们在水相中的化学稳定性。