Poly(divinylbenzene-maleic acid) Hollow Nanospheres Coordinated with Zirconium: An Effective Catalyst for the Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol

Poly(divinylbenzene-maleic acid) (PDBMA) hollow nanospheres with a high content of carboxylic acid groups were prepared. Through the confinement coordination of Zr⁴⁺ ions with the carboxylic acid groups of the backbone of PDBMA, the hybrid PDBMA&Zr hollow nanospheres were synthesized. PDBMA&Zr possesses a high content of coordinatively unsaturated zirconium sites (Zr_cus). PDBMA&Zr exhibited significantly high catalytic efficiency for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol. Two aspects contribute to high catalytic efficiency: the high content of coordinatively unsaturated zirconium sites and the high accessibility of zirconium sites by the reactant furfural. The mechanism for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation reaction by PDBMA&Zr has been investigated.