Furfural Adsorption and Hydrogenation at the Oxide‐Metal Interface: Evidence of the Support Influence on the Selectivity of Iridium‐Based Catalysts

Abstract Here, tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride‐protected colloidal iridium nanoparticles were deposited by sol‐immobilisation on three different supports (CeO 2 , NiO and TiO ) investigated for the liquid‐phase direct hydrogenation (H atmosphere) catalytic transfer – CTH (N of furfural to study effect H donor. The occurrence strong‐metal support interactions in 1 wt % Ir/CeO catalyst, as disclosed XPS, was revealed be responsible high activity observed (81 conversion after 6 h) unusual selectivity 2‐methylfuran (70 %) under conditions. On other hand, Ir/NiO showed peculiar tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol both N atmospheres (71 70 %, respectively). density functional theory calculations further that unique may ascribed adsorption properties support, which activates a dual‐site mechanism.