Conversion of Cellulose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural using Inorganic Acidic Catalysts in the Presence of Pressurized Water Steam

Abstract

Traditionally, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is produced by using a waterorganic solvent medium, which inevitably increases production costs and adds subsequent separation processes. To minimize cost and/or toxic organic solvent usage, this study presents an effective pathway for producing HMF from cellulose. The process uses a fixed bed reactor with a steam stripping process in which the cellulose is converted into HMF and other products in the presence of acidic inorganic salts. In the process, the cellulose was hydrolyzed to glucose, which was followed by isomerization to fructose and fructose dehydration into HMF. The produced HMF was easily vaporized into the gas phase, which avoided its conversion into undesired byproducts. An acceptable HMF yield of 28.2 mol% was obtained using KH2PO4 as the catalyst at 270 °C. This technology could be used to obtain both HMF and furfural (FF) from different lignocellulosic biomasses. This stripping technology has advantages such as the lack of organic solvents, showing an alternative and green HMF and/or FF production from lignocellulosic biomass.

Production of Furanic Compounds and Organic Acids from Brazilian Pequi (Caryocar brasiliensis Camb.) Residues Using Green Chemistry

“…Some studies in the literature [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] have reported works with HMF and FF yields close to those found in this work using different residual biomass as raw material. Zhang et al 21 reported the production of HMF and FF from maize ear with yields of about 66% (after 65 min reaction) and 10% (after 85 min reaction), respectively, at 175 °C.…”

“…The yields of these compounds were calculated using the equations 3 and 4 proposed by Cai et al: 39 (3) (4)…”

Sustainability of Biorefinery Processes Based on Baru Biomass Waste

“…Compound concentrations were calculated based on calibration curves generated from the standard solutions; subsequently, they were applied according to equations 3 and 4. 17 (3) 4Higher heating value (HHV)…”

Turning Point toward the Sustainable Production of 5-Hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde in Water: Metal Salts for Its Synthesis from Fructose and Inulin

“…Thus, more efforts have been addressed to their conversion into valuable products, under the perspective of “bio-refinery”. − In particular, 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) is one of the most promising renewable products. It has a very reactive structure due to the presence of the aldehydic and the hydroxyl groups and the furan ring, making it a key platform molecule for the synthesis of chemicals, biofuels, solvents and monomers. − HMF is obtained by the acid-catalyzed dehydration of C6 fraction of biomass, including monosaccharides, such as glucose and fructose, and more complex polysaccharides, such as cellulose, starch and inulin. − The monosaccharides are the ideal substrates for the HMF synthesis. In particular, fructose is the best HMF precursor because it can be directly converted into this furan compound through the loss of three water molecules .…”