Niobium pentoxides are promising acid catalysts for the conversion of biomass into fuels and chemicals. Developing new synthesis routes is essential for designing niobium pentoxide catalysts with improved activity for specific practical processes. Here we show a synthesis approach in acetophenone, which produces nanostructured niobium pentoxides with varying structure and acidity that act as efficient acid catalysts. The oxides have orthorhombic structures with different extents of distortions and coordinatively unsaturated metal atoms. A strong dependence is observed between the type and strength of the acid sites and specific structural motifs. Ultrasmall niobium pentoxide nanoparticles, which have strong Brønsted acidity, as well as Lewis acidity, give product yields of 96% (3 h, 140 °C, 100% conversion), 85% (3 h, 140 °C, 86% conversion), and 100% (3 h, 110 °C, 100% conversion) in the reactions of furfuryl alcohol, 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural, and α-angelica lactone with ethanol, respectively.

五氧化二铌是有前途的酸催化剂，可用于将生物质转化为燃料和化学品。开发新的合成路线对于设计具有改进的活性的五氧化二铌催化剂来说是必不可少的。在这里，我们展示了一种苯乙酮的合成方法，该方法可生产出具有不同结构和酸度的纳米结构的五氧化二铌，可作为有效的酸催化剂。氧化物具有正交结构，具有不同程度的变形和配位不饱和金属原子。在酸性位点的类型和强度以及特定的结构基序之间观察到强烈的依赖性​​。具有强布朗斯台德酸度和路易斯酸度的超小五氧化二铌纳米粒子的产品收率为96％（3 h，140°C，100％转化率），85％（3 h，140°C，86％转化率） ，