Visible-light-driven coproduction of diesel precursors and hydrogen from lignocellulose-derived methylfurans

Photocatalytic hydrogen production from biomass is a promising alternative to water splitting thanks to the oxidation half-reaction being more facile and its ability to simultaneously produce solar fuels and value-added chemicals. Here, we demonstrate the coproduction of H2 and diesel fuel precursors from lignocellulose-derived methylfurans via acceptorless dehydrogenative C-C coupling, using a Ru-doped ZnIn2S4 catalyst and driven by visible light. With this chemistry, up to 1.04 g gcatalyst-1 h-1 of diesel fuel precursors (~41% of which are precursors of branched-chain alkanes) are produced with selectivity higher than 96%, together with 6.0 mmol gcatalyst-1 h-1 of H2. Subsequent hydrodeoxygenation reactions yield the desired diesel fuels comprising straight- and branched-chain alkanes. We suggest that Ru dopants, substituted in the position of indium ions in the ZnIn2S4 matrix, improve charge separation efficiency, thereby accelerating C-H activation for the coproduction of H2 and diesel fuel precursors.