LAUSR

The condensation of biomass derived molecules has been increasingly utilized as a sustainable strategy for the preparation of high carbon precursors for high-density fuels, thus stimulating the demand for more efficient catalysts. Herein, we reported the synthesis of aluminum-doped mesoporous silica sphere (Al-MSS) catalyst for the conversion of biobased furfural and 2-methylfuran to the C15 diesel precursor via the hydroxyalkylation/alkylation (HAA) reaction. A series of Al-MSS catalysts with different Si/Al ratios and calcination temperatures were prepared and extensively characterized, among which Al-MSS20-450 (Si/Al=20:1, calcinated at 450 o C) exhibited an unprecedentedly high reaction efficiency in catalyzing HAA reaction, offering a 94% product yield at 140 o C in 20 min. The catalyst also achieved high product yields across a broad temperature range from 80 o C to 140  o C with varied reaction time. Reaction kinetics revealed that both the competitive substrate adsorption and the temperature-dependent system viscosity affected reaction efficiencies. Correlations between the catalytic activity and surface acid sites disclosed that moderate and strong acid sites were primarily responsible for the catalysis process. Brønsted and Lewis acid sites were demonstrated to work synergistically to catalyze the reaction by the poisoning assays, with the former being the prime sites. Finally, the catalyst provided a good recycling performance, which further highlighted its great prospect for industrial applications.