Basic anion-exchange resin (AER)-supported Au-Pd alloy nanoparticles for the oxidation of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF) into 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA)

Au-Pd alloy nanoparticles supported on basic anion-exchange resin (AER) have exceptional catalytic activity for the oxidation of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF) into 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) with an equimolar amount of base. SEM-EDX and TEM analyses show that 5–20 nm Au-Pd alloy nanoparticles are well dispersed both on the resin surface and inside resin spheres by a simple procedure without any assistance of additives. XPS analysis reveals that Au- and Pd metals exist in an alloy form on the AER support, which is confirmed by a comparison study with a mixture of AER-supported monometallic nanoparticles (AER-supported Au and AER-supported Pd). In the presence of a 1:1 ratio of Au-Pd alloy nanoparticles over Amberlite IRA-743 resin with O₂ (10 bar) at 373 K in an equimolar Na₂CO₃ aqueous solution, HMF is oxidized to FDCA with a 93.2% yield. On the other hand, mixture of AER-supported Au and AER-supported Pd affords only a 52% FDCA yield under identical conditions. This catalyst can be used 6 times without any significant loss of activity. FDCA is also obtained from HMF with an 82.9% yield in air (40 bar).