TOTAL HYDROGENATION OF BIOMASS-DERIVED FURFURAL OVER RANEY NICKEL-CLAY NANOCOMPOSITE CATALYSTS

Rodiansono Rodiansono (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Lambung Mangkurat, Jl. A. Yani Km 35.8 Banjarbaru South Kalimantan 70713)
Takayoshi Hara (Department of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Chiba, Jl. Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba Japan 263-8522)
Shogo Shimazu (Department of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Chiba, Jl. Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba Japan 263-8522)

Indonesian Journal of Chemistry
Vol 13, No 2 (2013)

Inexpensive Raney Ni-clay composite (R-Ni/clay) catalysts exhibited excellent activity and reusability in the total hydrogenation of biomass-derived furfural into tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol under mild conditions. For the Raney Ni-bentonite (R-Ni/BNT) catalysts, the complete reaction was achieved at 393 K, 180 min giving almost 99% yield of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol. The R-Ni/BNT catalyst was found to be reusable without any significant loss of activity and selectivity for at least six consecutive runs.