Efficient Cu–0.03Fe/SiO₂ catalysts for one-pot deep hydrogenation of maleic anhydride to 1,4-butanediol

The demand for biodegradable plastics is increasing in line with the growth in environmental protection measures. Consequently, the demand for 1,4-butanediol (BDO), the upstream key raw material for biodegradable plastics, has increased significantly. BDO can be obtained through the deep hydrogenation of maleic anhydride (MA). However, due to the complicated network involved in the MA hydrogenation reaction, it is rather difficult to obtain BDO with satisfactory yield via the one-pot deep hydrogenation of MA. In this work, Cu–0.03Fe/SiO₂ catalysts were prepared by hydrothermal and co-precipitation methods and applied to the one-pot deep hydrogenation of MA to BDO, affording 92.7–94.4% BDO yield at 190 °C under 5 MPa of H₂ pressure. This value surpasses those reported in the literature up to now. Moreover, the Cu–0.03Fe/SiO₂ catalyst prepared by a modified hydrothermal method can be reused at least four times without any distinct loss in activity or selectivity to BDO. A series of techniques were adopted to characterize the Cu–Fe/SiO₂ catalysts to gain some insights into the structure–performance relationship in the hydrogenation of MA to BDO.