Hydrogenolysis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural by in situ produced hydrogen from water on an iron catalyst

The hydrogenolysis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in a flow reactor was investigated over iron catalysts in the presence of water. The reaction proceeds in the presence of hydrogen or an inert atmosphere. Isotopic substitution studies where deuterium was used instead of water proved that the hydrogen in the final product can originate from water. The role of water was further investigated and it was found that it can re-oxidise the catalyst during the reaction. X-ray diffraction was used to identify the active phases present during and after the reaction. Density functional theory calculations revealed that the adsorption of the substrate is rather strong on Fe(110), and this may explain the formation of humins during the reaction, which is regarded as the main limitation of the current catalyst.