Continuous Flow Upgrading of Selected C₂–C₆Platform Chemicals Derived from Biomass

Abstract

The ever increasing industrial production of commodity and specialty chemicals inexorably depletes the finite primary fossil resources available on Earth. The forecast of population growth over the next 3 decades is a very strong incentive for the identification of alternative primary resources other than petro-based ones. In contrast with fossil resources, renewable biomass is a virtually inexhaustible reservoir of chemical building blocks. Shifting the current industrial paradigm from almost exclusively petro-based resources to alternative bio-based raw materials requires more than vibrant political messages; it requires a profound revision of the concepts and technologies on which industrial chemical processes rely. Only a small fraction of molecules extracted from biomass bears significant chemical and commercial potentials to be considered as ubiquitous chemical platforms upon which a new, bio-based industry can thrive. Owing to its inherent assets in terms of unique process experience, scalability, and reduced environmental footprint, flow chemistry arguably has a major role to play in this context. This review covers a selection of C2 to C6 bio-based chemical platforms with existing commercial markets including polyols (ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol, 1,3-propanediol, glycerol, 1,4-butanediol, xylitol, and sorbitol), furanoids (furfural and 5-hydroxymethyl­furfural) and carboxylic acids (lactic acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid, malic acid, itaconic acid, and levulinic acid). The aim of this review is to illustrate the various aspects of upgrading bio-based platform molecules toward commodity or specialty chemicals using new process concepts that fall under the umbrella of continuous flow technology and that could change the future perspectives of biorefineries.

Hybrid chemoenzymatic heterogeneous catalyst prepared in one step from zeolite nanocrystals and enzyme–polyelectrolyte complexes

“…2 As "the 9 th principle of green chemistry", 3 catalysis allows inventing more efficient chemical routes for the production of chemicals, evolving towards intensied processes, and simplifying industrial workup procedures. 4 While catalysis science is classically compartmented into three sub-eldshomogeneous, heterogeneous and enzymatic catalysisit nowadays appears essential to harness the strengths of different types of catalysts to design greener chemical processes. 5 On the one hand, heterogeneous catalysts are considered as robust, with moderate intrinsic performance (selectivity, yield) but large scope of application.…”

The rise of continuous flow biocatalysis – fundamentals, very recent developments and future perspectives

“…45 Monbaliu and co-workers summarize the impact of continuous flow on platform-chemicals derived from biomass. 46 Also the continuous synthesis of polymers have been reviewed by Zaquen et al very recently. 47 Different from the above-mentioned literature data, in this review, we aim at presenting only very recent developments in the field of continuous flow biocatalysis being published from 2018 to September 2020 with a special focus on potential future developments in this key emerging research area.…”

p-Xylene from 2,5-dimethylfuran and acrylic acid using zeolite in a continuous flow system

“…These experiments clearly support the view that the flow system is favored to run the present system economically and in a sustainable fashion. 12,50…”