This
paper integrates acidolysis and in situ hydrogenation
of biomass to produce bio-oil featuring a high yield and also a high
effective hydrogen/carbon molar ratio (H/Ceff). A catalytic
amount of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (HOTf) is found to be very
effective to cleave glycosidic bonds in carbohydrates and β-O-4
bonds in lignin, resulting in the formation of various carbohydrate/lignin-derived
radicals. The in situ hydrogenation in the presence
of Ru/C and H2 stabilizes the resulting radicals and, thus,
prevents their repolymerization. This HOTf–Ru/C system is applicable
to a wide range of feedstocks. Typically, the yield of bio-oil (dichloromethane
extract) from pine wood at 160 °C can be as high as 43.2 wt %
with a H/Ceff of 1.24, which is high enough to be co-processed
in the existing refineries.
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