Value-Added Bio-Chemicals Commodities from Catalytic Conversion of Biomass Derived Furan-Compounds

Abstract

The depletion of fossil resources in the near future and the need to decrease greenhouse gas emissions lead to the investigation of using alternative renewable resources as raw materials. One of the most promising options is the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass (like forestry residues) into bioenergy, biofuels and biochemicals. Among these products, the production of intermediate biochemicals has become an important goal since the petrochemical industry needs to find sustainable alternatives. In this way, the chemical industry competitiveness could be improved as bioproducts have a great potential market. Thus, the main objective of this review is to describe the production processes under study (reaction conditions, type of catalysts, solvents, etc.) of some promising intermediate biochemicals, such as; alcohols (1,2,6-hexanetriol, 1,6-hexanetriol and pentanediols (1,2 and 1,5-pentanediol)), maleic anhydride and 5-alkoxymethylfuran. These compounds can be produced using 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and/or furfural, which they both are considered one of the main biomass derived building blocks.

Tunable HMF hydrogenation to furan diols in a flow reactor using Ru/C as catalyst

“…For instance as previously reported, tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol can be formed by CÀ ÀC bond cleavage of BHMTHF [59] and the hydrogenation of furfuryl alcohol, originating from HMF decarbonylation [54,55]. Both furfuryl alcohol and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol can undergo the ring-opening reaction leading to 1,2-pentandiol and/or 1,5pentandiol [56,[63][64][65]. On the other hand, also BHMTHF is prone to ring-opening reactions leading, in this case, to 1,2,6-hexanetriol [15,56,[65][66][67], which can be converted to tetrahydropyran-2methanol [20,66,67] through hydrogenolysis of the CÀ ÀO bond [53,65,66].…”

“…Both furfuryl alcohol and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol can undergo the ring-opening reaction leading to 1,2-pentandiol and/or 1,5pentandiol [56,[63][64][65]. On the other hand, also BHMTHF is prone to ring-opening reactions leading, in this case, to 1,2,6-hexanetriol [15,56,[65][66][67], which can be converted to tetrahydropyran-2methanol [20,66,67] through hydrogenolysis of the CÀ ÀO bond [53,65,66]. Thus, when using a more concentrated HMF feed, condensation reactions to give humins as well as by-product formation reduce the chemoselectivity to the desired diols.…”

Reductive Conversion of Biomass-Derived Furancarboxylic Acids with Retention of Carboxylic Acid Moiety

“…Furfural and HMF have reactive unsaturated furan ring and aldehyde group, and the conversion of furfural and HMF has been also intensively investigated by using various reactions such as reduction, oxidation, addition and condensation. While reductive conversion has been the most investigated because of the high unsaturation of furfural and HMF and variety of products [4,[6][7][8][9][10], oxidation of the side chain of furfural and HMF can give furancarboxylic acids, namely 2-furancarboxylic acid (furoic acid; FCA) and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), respectively, relatively easily (Fig. 1).…”

Ruthenium Nanoparticles Intercalated in Montmorillonite (nano-Ru@MMT) Is Highly Efficient Catalyst for the Selective Hydrogenation of 2-Furaldehyde in Benign Aqueous Medium

“…Among bio-mass derived organics, 2-furaldehyde is a versatile source of many fine chemicals. Its hydrogenated product-furfuryl alcohol-is a key synthetic intermediate and feedstock for the manufacture of lysine, ascorbic acid, lubricants, corrosion-resistant fiberglass, thermostatic resins, acid proof bricks, and it is also being used in the polymer industry [1,[3][4][5]. Thus, selective hydrogenation of 2-furaldehyde to furfuryl alcohol using environment-friendly solvents, such as water, is a fascinating area of research to fulfill the increasing demand for eco-friendly fuels and https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11010066 fine chemicals [6].…”

“…2-Furaladehyde conversion up to 83% was observed for Cu-Bentonite catalyst [15]. Overall, a number of catalysts have been reported in the literature for selective hydrogenation of 2-furaldehyde including Ni, Pt, Pd, Cu, Ru, Pd-Au, Pt-Sn, Cu-Ca, Cu-Fe-Al on various metallic, bimetallic, and amorphous supports [1,[3][4][5][16][17][18]. However, commercial production of furfuryl alcohol is mainly achieved with copper chromate catalysts.…”