The breakdown of reticent biomass to soluble components and their conversion to levulinic acid as a fuel precursor

Abstract

A biphasic system consisting of THF and water was studied to achieve the integrated conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose in lignocellulosic biomass to levulinic acid. As compared to previous studies using GVL as solvent, the utilization of a lower boiling point solvent, THF, also achieves the simultaneous hydrolysis of C 6 and C 5 carbohydrates in lignocellulosic biomass, and the results of simultaneous hydrolysis are comparable. Furthermore, it offers an alternative operation procedure after the hydrolysis. A distillation process is not only used to achieve the effective separation of the solid residue from the desired products, but it also helps in the complete isolation of furfural and formic acid from levulinic acid. Consequently, the utilization of by-product formic acid in the hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol is explored, and the process is achieved with both model substrates and the feed from the lignocellulosic biomass feedstock. The hydrolysis of furfuryl alcohol gave C 5 carbohydrate-derived levulinic acid. We finally explored the integrated conversion with five biomass raw materials, and the total yield of levulinic acid was quite obviously promoted by the additional conversion of pentose.

A new functionalized ionic liquid for efficient glucose conversion to 5-hydroxymethyl furfural and levulinic acid

“…The results of 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR ( Fig. S1-S6) were recorded on NMR Bruker Avance II 400 MHz in DMSO-d 6 and CDCl 3 solvents.…”

“…Carbohydrate such as glucose is a compound from which various bio-based chemicals can be derived [1]. Among those chemicals, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) and levulinic acid (LA) have received significant attention as platform chemicals for synthesizing a broad range of chemicals and bio-based fuels [5][6][7].…”

Catalytic Transformation of Cellulose and Its Derivatives into Functionalized Organic Acids

“…As a consequence, the formation of levulinic acid could be markedly enhanced. Fu and co‐workers presented another biphasic system that consisted of water and THF for the transformation of cellulose and other types of biomass into levulinic acid . This system afforded comparable performance to that of the water–GVL biphasic (1:1) system in the HCl‐catalyzed conversion of lignocellulosic biomass composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin.…”

“…To enhance the acid‐catalyzed levulinic acid formation, many biphasic or organic‐phase systems have been developed . Dumesic and co‐workers reported a water–GVL biphasic system containing HCl for the catalytic conversion of cellulose .…”

Efficient formation of angelica lactones in a vapor-phase conversion of levulinic acid

“…Shifting society's dependence away from petroleum to renewable biomass resources is generally viewed as an important contributor to the development of a sustainable industrial society and effective management of greenhouse gas emissions [1][2][3]. Levulinic acid (LA) is an attractive chemical, which can be produced from cellulose [2,4] and hemicellulose [2,[5][6][7] as well as sugars [8,9] presented in agricultural and forest residues. LA is used as a food flavoring agent and also a starting material for the preparation of a variety of industrial and pharmaceutical compounds [10,11].…”