2,5-Dimethylfuran (DMF), which is one of the most promising liquid biofuels, has garnered significant attention due to its potential to develop the utilization of biomass energy. In this work, its synthesis through the hydrodeoxygenation reaction (HDO) of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) has been studied on Ni catalysts supported on various metal oxides and a high surface graphite (HSAG), in a batch reactor, using 1-butanol as a solvent. At 180 °C and under 30 bar H2, the catalytic activity and the predominant reaction route were found to be strongly conditioned by the nature of the support, as well as by the presence of impurities depending on the commercial HMF feedstock employed. The HSAG support turned out to be the most suitable for the HDO of HMF leading to the formation of DMF, via rupture of the C-O bonds. Additionally, the catalytic performance of Co and Cu supported on this graphitic material was studied, being Cu the one that offers the best yields to DMF (95 %), even in the absence of external hydrogen (84 %), confirming that butanol acts as a hydrogen donor in addition of solvent.
