Furfural conversion over calcined Ti and Fe metal-organic frameworks under continuous flow conditions

Furfural is an interesting bio-platform derived from lignocellulosic biomass that can be converted into chemicals and add-value products. In this work, the continuous-flow hydrogenation of furfural with 2-propanol was carried out using transition metal-based catalysts. C-MIL-101(Fe) and C-MIL-125(Ti), were successfully synthesized upon calcination of the parent MOFs obtained by the solvothermal method and their performances were compared in the hydrogenation of furfural. Interestingly, an 83% furfural conversion has been achieved over calcined C-MIL-125(Ti) with 77% of selectivity for FOL. Calcined C-MIL-101(Fe) provided lower furfural conversion and FOL selectivity, with an interesting switch towards acetal products.