Catalytic Upgrading of Biomass‐Derived Sugars with Acidic Nanoporous Materials: Structural Role in Carbon‐Chain Length Variation

Abstract

Shifting from petroleum‐based resources to inedible biomass for the production of valuable chemicals and fuels is one of the significant aspects in sustainable chemistry for realizing the sustainable development of our society. Various renowned biobased platform molecules, such as 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural, furfural, levulinic acid, and lactic acid, are successfully accessible from the transformation of biobased sugars. To achieve the specific reaction routes, heterogeneous nanoporous acidic materials have served as promising catalysts for the conversion of bio‐sugars in the past decade. This Review summarizes advances in various nanoporous acidic materials for bio‐sugar conversion, in which the number of carbon atoms is variable and controllable with the assistance of the switchable structure of nanoporous materials. The major focus of this Review is on possible reaction pathways/mechanisms and the relationships between catalyst structure and catalytic performance. Moreover, representative examples of catalytic upgrading of biobased platform molecules to biochemicals and fuels through selective C−C cleavage and coupling strategies over nanoporous acidic materials are also discussed.

Hierarchical Porous MIL-101(Cr) Solid Acid-Catalyzed Production of Value-Added Acetals from Biomass-Derived Furfural

“…The use of renewable carbon resources to produce current and new generations of chemicals and materials has been highly valued [1]. The development of alternative technologies based on sustainable resources to offset the increase in fossil energy prices caused by depletion and global warming and minimize people's dependence on fossil fuel reserves is imminent [2,3]. Obtaining fuel alternatives from renewable biomass resources is a viable route.…”

Selective Conversion of Various Monosaccharaides into Sugar Acids by Additive‐Free Dehydrogenation in Water

“…Replacing the use of fossil fuels with transformation of biomass is a major challenge for reduction of global CO2 emissions. [5][6][7][8][9] The initial platform chemicals obtained from biomass are sustainable intermediates for the production of specific chemicals. [10][11][12][13] Carbohydrates are abundant in nature and constitute one of the major components of plant biomass.…”

Progress of Catalytic Valorization of Bio-Glycerol with Urea into Glycerol Carbonate as a Monomer for Polymeric Materials

“…Satisfactorily, in comparison with the methods mentioned above, the glycerolysis of urea can be deemed as a relatively green process to produce GC. e main advantages of glycerolysis of urea are that both glycerol and urea are readily available, cheap, and nontoxic, and this simple procedure can be conducted without using any solvent along with the high selectivity and GC yield under mild reaction conditions [38,39]. It is noteworthy that the GC production from glycerol and urea is currently drawing a mass of attention from a sustainable chemistry perspective: (a) utilizing and reducing the undesirable CO 2 via the chemical transformation, (b) using the biodiesel by-product glycerol, and (c) producing a value-added chemical GC with versatile practical applications [40,41].…”