Hydrodeoxygenation of biomass-derived furans into liquid alkanes over a Ru/WO3–ZrO2 catalyst†

The synthesis of high-quality fuels from biomass-derived platform chemicals is challenging. Herein, Ru/WO₃–ZrO₂ (Ru/xWZ, where x is the wt% of WO₃) catalysts with varying WO₃ loadings were synthesized and explored for the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of biomass-derived furfural-acetone aldol adducts (FAc) to alkanes. Notably, WO₃ loadings had a marked effect on the catalytic HDO of FAc to alkanes. Complete FAc conversion with a 95% yield of alkanes (octane : heptane – 82 : 18) was achieved over the Ru/5WZ catalyst under optimized reaction conditions (150 °C, 2 MPa H₂, and 3 h). Control experiments and NH₃-TPD and HR-TEM results inferred that the optimum loading of WO₃ is crucial for tuning the acidic sites and the exposure of the Ru surface sites in the Ru/xWZ catalysts to achieve high catalytic activity for the HDO of FAc to alkanes.