ZrO2-SBA-15 catalysts for the one-pot cascade synthesis of GVL from furfural

Controlling the thickness of zirconia monolayers coated over SBA-15 offers an effective way to tune catalytic performance for the acid-mediated and hydrogen transfer (Meerwein Ponndorf Verley, MPV) cascade transformation of furfural to -valerolactone. Complementary mechanistic and kinetic modelling establishes the existence of the two distinct zirconium active species (weak and strong acid sites), whose balancing enables optimisation of the cascade and hence maximal -valerolactone (GVL) production.