Characterizations of furfuryl alcohol oligomer/polymerization catalyzed by homogeneous and heterogeneous acid catalysts

The liquid-phase oligomer/polymerization of furfuryl alcohol (FA) catalyzed by homogeneous and heterogeneous acid catalysts was investigated by Infrared (IR) spectroscopy. At room temperature and 100 °C, FA was not decomposed with metal oxide catalysts except for tungsten oxide, whereas amberlyst and sulfuric acid converted a furfuryl alcohol monomer into oligomer/polymer even at a room temperature. During FA oligomer/polymerization reaction, a strong C=O band observed in the IR spectra provided a diketone structure, which was not observed in the Raman spectroscopy. Based on the FA monomer color changings and IR spectra, tungsten oxide can be possibly applied as a heterogeneous catalyst for controlling the product distribution and avoiding a product separation issue from catalyst [Figure not available: see fulltext.].