Effect of support on selective 5-hydroxymethylfurfural hydrogenation towards 2,5-dimethylfuran over copper catalysts

[Display omitted] •Environmentally benign, earth-abundant Cu catalysts converted HMF to DMF.•Metal and acid sites plays a role in HMF conversion towards DMF.•Al2O3 supported catalysts exhibited higher HMF conversion and DMF yield.•DMF production occurs via BHMF as the key intermediate. The production of 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) over different copper supported catalysts was investigated. An adequate metal dispersion and the nature of acid sites played a role in catalytic activity. Alumina containing catalysts showed the best performance in HMF hydrogenation and DMF production due to both higher acidity and copper particle size. Cu/Al2O3, Cu/Fe2O3-Al2O3, Cu/Nb2O5-Al2O3-623 and Cu/Nb2O5-Al2O3-773 showed a complete HMF conversion at 1 h of reaction and a DMF yield higher than 85% with a negligible quantity of ring-hydrogenation products (