Selective production of glycols from xylitol over Ru on covalent triazine frameworks – suppressing decarbonylation reactions

Ru on covaltent triazine frameworks (CTF) are highly active and selective catalysts for the conversion of xylitol to glycols (80% C-yield) in basic media. With increasing N-content decarbonylation reactions are suppressed leading to high glycol selectivity. The suppression can be attributed to the presence of N in the support and to metal-support interactions. The catalysts exhibit high stability and could be recycled 5 times with minor loss of activity.