Quantitative hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol with recyclable KF and hydrosilane at room temperature in minutes

Abstract Selective hydrogenation of furfural (FUR) derivable from pentose is one of crucial route to upgrade biomass. In this work, a rapid and mild approach has been developed for the quantitative production of furfuryl alcohol from FUR at room temperature in several minutes as short as 5 min with the presence of readily available KF and polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS) that is a nontoxic and cheap liquid H-donor. This catalytic system was also active for the selective hydrogenation of various aldehydes in high yields, and could be recycled with little decrease of activity. In addition, the reaction mechanism was clarified by NMR spectra.