Hydrogenolysis of Guaiacol to Phenol Over Ru-FeO_x Nanoparticles Supported on TiO₂

Phenol is an essential bulk chemical, which is mainly produced by the cumene process. Selective hydrodeoxygenation of biomass-derived platform compounds has significant potential for producing this chemical. However, it is very challenging to balance the activity and selectivity. Herein, we report a novel catalyst (Ru/FeO_x–TiO₂) fabricated by loading Ru and FeO_x nanoparticles (NPs) onto a rutile TiO₂ support, which can effectively promote the selective hydrogenolysis of C_Ar–OCH₃ bonds without obvious hydrogenation of the benzene ring using water as the reaction solvent, thereby achieving a phenol selectivity of 81.1% at a 90.4% conversion of guaiacol. The synergistic interaction between Ru and FeO_x NPs weakens the adsorption of aromatic rings on the Ru surface, thereby reducing the formation of over-hydrogenated byproducts. Meanwhile, the oxophilic nature of Fe species enables the selective adsorption of the methoxy group in guaiacol, which enables the adjacent Ru sites to achieve highly selective cleavage of the C_Ar–OCH₃ bond. This work fundamentally reveals the relationship between synergistic metal-support catalysis and catalytic performance, as well as providing an efficient catalytic strategy for producing valuable phenolic chemicals.