Liquid Phase Furfural Oxidation under Uncontrolled pH in Batch and Flow Conditions: The Role of In Situ Formed Base

oleh: Alessandra Roselli, Yuri Carvalho, Franck Dumeignil, Fabrizio Cavani, Sébastien Paul, Robert Wojcieszak

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-01-01

Deskripsi

Selective oxidation of furfural to furoic acid was performed with pure oxygen in aqueous phase under mild conditions and uncontrolled pH using hydrotalcite-supported gold nanoparticles as catalyst. Hydrotalcites with different Mg: Al ratios were tested as support. The effects of reaction time, temperature and furfural/catalyst ratio were evaluated. The catalyst Au/HT 4:1 showed the highest activity and selectivity to the desired product, achieving a complete conversion of furfural to furoic acid after 2 h at 110 &#176;C. Further, stability tests were carried out in a continuous stirred-tank reactor and a progressive deactivation of the catalyst due to the leaching of Mg<sup>2+</sup> cations from the support inducing changes in the pH of the reaction medium was observed.