Question

How would tetrahydrofuran be made from furan?

Answer 1

You are making `"tetrahydrofuran...........?"`

Explanation:

This is a guess on my part, but I suspect you are making `"ether tetrahydrofuran"`, which is pictured.............

And the starting material, I presume, is the aromatic heterocycle, `"furan"`, which also appears here,

Sorry for the scale mismatch. I am a klutz with links......

We want to reduce `"furan"` to give `"tetrahydrofuran"`......

`C_4H_4O(l) + 2H_2(g) stackrel(Rh(I))rarr C_4H_8O(l)`

Some hydrogenation catalyst would be used.......and a couple of atmospheres of dihydrogen would be used for the reduction.