Hemicellulose-derived chemicals: one-step production of furfuryl alcohol from xylose
Green Chem., 2014, 16,3942-3950
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00398E, Paper
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00398E, Paper
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Corresponding authors
a
Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia/MCTI, Divisão de Catálise e Processos Químicos, Av. Venezuela, 82/518, Centro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
E-mail: marco.fraga@int.gov.br
E-mail: marco.fraga@int.gov.br
This study reports an innovative process to obtain furfuryl alcohol from xylose over a dual heterogeneous catalyst system that allows the reaction to occur in a single step. The presence of acid and metal sites is mandatory to promote the dehydration of xylose to furfural and its hydrogenation to furfuryl alcohol. The composition of solvent is decisive in determining the selectivity.
One-pot production of furfuryl alcohol via xylose dehydration followed by furfural hydrogenation was investigated over a dual catalyst system composed of Pt/SiO2 and sulfated ZrO2 as metal and acid catalysts, respectively. All samples were characterized by XRD, XRF, N2 physisorption, TG-MS and FTIR regarding their most fundamental properties for the studied process. A systematic study is reported on the effects of the reaction temperature, the composition of the binary solvent and the molar ratio between acid and metal sites in the catalyst system. The results revealed the feasibility of the one-step process for furfuryl alcohol synthesis and showed that the occurrence of both acid and metal sites is compulsory in order to promote the dehydration of xylose to furfural and its further hydrogenation to furfuryl alcohol. Selectivity towards furfuryl alcohol was found to be strongly dependent on the solvent, which can inhibit its polymerization to some extent.
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