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Coupling metal halides with a co-solvent to produce furfural and 5-HMF at high yields directly om lignocellulosic biomass as an integrated biofuels strategy.
- Source :
-
Green Chemistry . 2014, Vol. 16 Issue 8, p3819-3829. 11p. - Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- Metal halides are selective catalysts suitable for production of the fuel precursors furfural and 5-HMF from sugars derived from lignocellulosic biomass. However, they do not perform nearly as well when applied to biomass even in combination with immiscible extracting solvents or expensive ionic co-solvents. Here, we couple metal halides with a highly tunable co-solvent system employing renewable tetrahydrofuran (THF) to significantly enhance co-production of furfural and 5-HMF from biomass in a single phase reaction strategy capable of integrating biomass deconstruction with catalytic dehydration of sugars. Screening of several promising metal halide species at 170 °C in pH-controlled reactions with sugar solutions and larger 1 L reactions with maple wood and corn stover revealed how the interplay between relative Brønsted and Lewis acidities was responsible for enhancing catalytic performance in THF co-solvent. Combining FeCl3 with THF co-solvent was particularly effective, achieving one of the highest reported simultaneous yields of furfural (95%) and 5-HMF (51%) directly from biomass with minimal levulinic acid formation (6%). Furthermore, over 90% of the lignin from biomass was extracted by THF and recovered as a fine lignin powder. Tuning the volume ratio of THF to water from 4 : 1 to 1 : 1 preserved 10% to 31% of the reacted biomass as a glucan-rich solid suitable for further catalytic reaction, enzymatic digestion, or possible pulp and paper production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14639262
- Volume :
- 16
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Green Chemistry
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 100090456
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1039/c4gc00747f