Highly efficient dehydration of polyols: In-situ Brønsted acid from boron phosphate catalyst.

[Display omitted] • BPO 4 with in-situ Brønsted acid sites was employed for glycerol dehydration. • BPO 4 shows high acrolein yield of 80 % and robust stability during 425 h test. • In-situ Brønsted acid site is highly selective for the secondary hydroxyl groups. • The construction of B[3] and P[4] defects is a prerequisite for the active site. Dehydroxylation of biomass-based platform molecules is critical for obtaining building blocks for use in the chemical industry. Acid catalytic dehydration has provided a feasible route. However, simultaneously pursuing high product-selective and ultra-stable catalysts for the dehydroxylation of polyols remains an open challenge. In this study, a strategy for in-situ Brønsted acid sites (BAS) with chemo-adsorption selectivity is proposed. The construction of defect sites B[3] and P[4] species has been proved to be a prerequisite for the dynamic acid site formation at hydrothermal conditions. The BPO 4 catalyst with in-situ BAS can achieve the high selectivity of acrolein (∼80%) and robust stability of catalyst (over 425 h) using glycerol dehydration as a model reaction. In addition, in-situ BAS is highly selective for secondary hydroxyl groups and has been extended to other substrate applications. This catalytic strategy provides a green, efficient, and economical approach for converting biomass-derived polyols to high-value-added chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]