A Resol-Assisted Cationic Coordinative Co-assembly Approach to Mesoporous ABO3 Perovskite Oxides with Rich Oxygen Vacancy for Enhanced Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 Feb 23;60(9):4774-4781. doi: 10.1002/anie.202012416. Epub 2021 Jan 12.

Abstract

It is a challenge to obtain ABO3 perovskite oxides with favorable crystal phase and well-defined porous structure via existing approaches. Here, we design an effective and versatile strategy to construct mesoporous ABO3 perovskite oxides with functionalized nanocrystal frameworks and abundant oxygen vacancy sites via a resol-assisted cationic coordinative co-assembly approach. The as-prepared oxygen vacancy-rich mesoporous LaMnO3 as heterogeneous catalyst exhibits remarkable catalytic activity and stability for hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol, including over 99 % conversion and 96 % selectivity. Combined with density functional theory calculation, the catalytic mechanism is elucidated, revealing that porous LaMnO3 nanocrystal framework is conducive to expose oxygen deficiency sites, which can facilitate the interaction between catalyst surface and catalytic substrate, leading to lower barrier in hydrogenation process.

Keywords: catalytic transfer hydrogenation; mesoporous materials; molecule co-assembly process; perovskite oxides.