The conversion of furfural to cyclopentanone (CPO) involves not only hydrogenation but also acid-catalysis reactions. The step of the acid-catalysis might be catalyzed by Lewis acid or Brønsted acid or both, which was investigated in this study by employing Ni/SiC, a catalyst with “clean” surface containing negligible amounts of acidic sites. Lewis acid (nitrate salts and chloride salts) or Brønsted acid (D008, a solid acid resin catalyst) with externally added to the reaction medium. The results showed that both Lewis acid and Brønsted acid could catalyze the conversion of furfural to CPO. The further hydrogenation of furfuryl alcohol (FA) to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol was main side reaction, which could be suppressed more effectively with the Lewis acid like CrCl₃. The yield of CPO could be up to ca. 88.1 % with the Ni/SiC-CrCl₃ catalytic system. The chelation of CrCl₃ with FA stabilized the CC bond in the furan ring and the hydroxyl group, preventing the side reactions while facilitating CPO formation. The synergistic effects between the cation and anion was essential for the conversion of FA to CPO as the varied nitrate salts or chloride salts chelated with furfural, FA or other reaction intermediates in distinct ways, determining distribution of the products.

糠醛向环戊酮（CPO）的转化不仅涉及氢化，而且涉及酸催化反应。酸催化步骤可通过路易斯酸或布朗斯台德酸或两者催化，在这项研究中，通过使用镍/碳化硅进行了研究，镍/碳化硅是一种具有“干净”表面且含有可忽略不计的酸性位点的催化剂。从外部向反应介质中添加路易斯酸（硝酸盐和氯化物盐）或布朗斯台德酸（D008，固体酸树脂催化剂）。结果表明，路易斯酸和布朗斯台德酸均可以催化糠醛向CPO的转化。糠醇（FA）进一步加氢成四氢糠醇是主要的副反应，用路易斯酸如CrCl ₃可以更有效地抑制。CPO的产量可能高达 Ni / SiC-CrCl ₃催化体系为88.1％。CrCl ₃与FA的螯合稳定了呋喃环和羟基的C C键，防止了副反应，同时促进了CPO的形成。阳离子和阴离子之间的协同作用对于将FA转化为CPO是必不可少的，因为各种硝酸盐或氯化物盐与糠醛，FA或其他反应中间体以不同的方式螯合，决定了产物的分布。