Selectivity promotion of Cu by manganese oxide in hydrogenative ring opening of furfural to pentanediols.

This work reports a targeted activation of C-O-C of furfural alcohol (FA) to produce pentanediols (PeDs) over MnO-modified Cu. Infrared spectroscopy revealed the strong interaction of the furan ring and C-O-C of FA with the catalyst surface in a preferred flat adsorption configuration, thus facilitating the activation and cleavage of C-O-C to form PeDs.