The catalytic behaviour in aqueous-phase hydrogenation over a renewable Ni catalyst derived from a perovskite-type oxide.

Water is inevitably associated with the production of bio-derived platform molecules, but most supported metallic catalysts have poor water compatibility. Although there have been a great number of investigations regarding the hydrogenation of bio-derived unsaturated compounds in the organic phase, the reactions that proceed in water are still quite challenging. Herein, we report the synthesis of a supported nickel catalyst (Ni-LN650) by the reduction of the perovskite-type oxide LaNiO3 precursor at 650 °C. The derived catalyst affords attractive activity in the hydrogenation of furfural by using water as the reaction medium, in which furfural is completely converted into tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol with the highest productivity of 289.7 mmol gNi-1 h-1 at 120 °C and 1 MPa of H2 within 5 h of reaction. The Ni-LN650 catalyst also exhibits good stability and renewability in a cycle test, stemming from the self-regeneration peculiarity of the perovskite-type oxide precursor. Moreover, the catalyst can also demonstrate high activity in the aqueous-phase hydrogenation of various aldehydes, alkenes and carboxylic acids in a series of experiments. Due to the merits of usability in water, the renewability and wide application scope, the Ni-LN650 catalyst can be treated as a promising candidate for the catalytic conversion of bio-derived platform molecules into high value-added fuels and chemicals.