A Resol-Assisted Cationic Coordinative Co-assembly Approach to Mesoporous ABO₃ Perovskite Oxides with Rich Oxygen Vacancy for Enhanced Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol

It is a challenge to obtain ABO₃ perovskite oxides with favorable crystal phase and well-defined porous structure via existing approaches. Here, we design an effective and versatile strategy to construct mesoporous ABO₃ perovskite oxides with functionalized nanocrystal frameworks and abundant oxygen vacancy sites via a resol-assisted cationic coordinative co-assembly approach. The as-prepared oxygen vacancy-rich mesoporous LaMnO₃ as heterogeneous catalyst exhibits remarkable catalytic activity and stability for hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol, including over 99 % conversion and 96 % selectivity. Combined with density functional theory calculation, the catalytic mechanism is elucidated, revealing that porous LaMnO₃ nanocrystal framework is conducive to expose oxygen deficiency sites, which can facilitate the interaction between catalyst surface and catalytic substrate, leading to lower barrier in hydrogenation process.