A Highly Efficient Ni/Al2O3-LaOx Catalyst for the Reductive Amination of Furfural to Furfurylamine: the Promoting Effect of La

The reductive amination of furfural to furfurylamine is an important and still challenging topic in the field of biomass conversion. In this work, we prepared a series of Ni/Al2O3-LaOx catalysts by co-precipitation method, the role of La played in promoting the catalytic performances of reductive amination furfural was discussed based on the changes in the electronic state of Ni species, acidity, and Ni particle size. The catalytic activity and the selectivity of furfurylamine are highly dependent on the surface properties and the structure of the catalyst. The addition of La promoted the amount of strong acidic sites and the H2 dissociation and spillover on the surface, thus inducing the improvement of the catalytic activity and furfurylamine selectivity. The Ni/Al2O3-0.5LaOx catalyst with suitable acid sites gave a high yield of furfurylamine (94.9%) under mild reaction conditions. Moreover, the catalyst could be recycled five times without significant loss in activity. The Ni/Al2O3-LaOx catalyst is of great promise in the production of amines via reductive amination reaction.