Furfural is a strategic bio-based chemical platform (USD 814.6 million in 2019) with a market size expected to grow at an annual rate of 5.0% from 2020 to 2027, mostly boosted by the rising importance of bio-based chemicals as a consequence of increasing environmental concerns. Industrially, reactions performed on furfural are restricted to the reduction of the C=C and C=O bonds, thus restricting the portfolio of downstream chemicals that can be produced. In CATALFUR, we wish to study the catalytic =C-H functionalization of furfural to improve molecular diversity and complexity. In particular, the acid-catalyzed =C-H alkylation of furfural with alkyl alcohols has been selected as a reaction with a high potential of market as it couples two cheap and abundant chemicals in a 100% carbon economical fashion. However this reaction remains unsolved. The main scientific question addressed by CATALFUR is “how to improve the nucleophilicity of the pi cloud of the furanic ring of furfural?”