LAUSR

Abstract 3-Hydroxymethylcyclopentanone (HCPN) has been regarded as a considerable intermediate for the synthesis of polymers, pesticides and fragrances, which is mainly produced from petrochemical refinery. In recent years, the preparation of HCPN from biomass has gradually attracted attention. HCPN can be obtained through the selective ring rearrangement of biomass-based 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (5-HMF). In this paper, the Ni-Fe/Al2O3 was fabricated and used as an efficient catalyst for the production of HCPN, giving a 5-HMF complete conversion with a high HCPN selectivity (86 %) at 160 °C under 4 MPa H2 for 4 h. The optimized Ni-Fe/Al2O3 showed excellent activity towards the production of HCPN compared with monometallic catalysts, suggesting that there was a synergistic effect in Ni-Fe alloy. The introduction of Fe into Ni/Al2O3 improved the H2 adsorption capacity and also changed the acidic/basic sites, which are beneficial for the formation of HCPN. Moreover, Ni-Fe/Al2O3 exhibited superb stability and could be successively used four times without obvious loss in catalytic activity.