Ring Opening of Cyclic Ether for Selective Synthesis of Renewable 1,5-Pentanediol over Pt/WO₃@SiO₂ Catalysts

In this paper, the WO₃ embedded in a mesoporous SiO₂ framework (WO₃@SiO₂) was developed using a facile modified sol–gel method and further applied as a support of Pt/WO₃@SiO₂ catalysts during impregnation. The ring opening of cyclic ether, such as biomass-derived tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA), for the selective synthesis of renewable 1,5-pentanediol (1,5-PeD) was efficiently accomplished over Pt/WO₃@SiO₂ catalysts. This special nanocomposite structure provided both abundant active sites and strong synergistic coupling, thus significantly boosting the catalytic performances. The effects of reaction parameters, including the W/Si molar ratio, reaction time, reaction temperature, and reduction temperature, on the catalytic performances were also investigated. A high THFA conversion of 82.9% and a 1,5-PeD selectivity of 72.9% were achieved under the optimized reaction conditions. The preliminary characterization results suggested that the Brønsted acid sites of H_xWO₃ species with proper acid amounts played an important role in controlling the selective ring opening of THFA cyclic ether toward 1,5-PeD.