CoAl-spinel nanoparticles prepared by liquid-feed flame spray pyrolysis (LÀ F FSP) and activated by reduction at different temperatures were used to investigate the hydrogenation process of furfural (FA) under mild conditions. Reduction of the spinel at 500°C resulted in high FA conversion and selectivity to furfuryl alcohol (FFA, 81 % yield, in 1 hour). Reduction at higher temperatures (i. e., 700 and 850°C) led to the direct formation of diols (i. e., 1,5-PeD and 1,2-PeD) from FA. The differences in activity are attributed to the formation of surface metallic cobalt nanoparticles upon reduction at high temperature. A maximum of 30 % 1,5-PeD was yielded after 8 hours of reaction under the optimized conditions of150°C, 30 bar of H 2 and with 40 mg of catalyst reduced at 700°C. This is the first report on the direct catalytic conversion of furfural to1,5-pentanediol with a nonnoble metal solid catalyst. either form 1,2-PeD or 1,5-PeD or both. The second one combines hydrogenation of FFA to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA) followed by hydrogenolysis of THFA (Scheme 1, route II). Independently of which one is employed, FFA or THFA are usually chosen as starting reactant to obtain the diols.Due to the high amount of competitive reactions that FA can undergo (Scheme 1), the direct use of FA as starting material remains a challenge. Xu et al. reported 1,5-PeD production from FA over platinum supported inverse Co-spinel,

a 5-Acetoxymethylfurfural (AMF) is an important biomass derived platform chemical related to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. Such furanic compounds can be produced via the hydrolysis of cellulose followed by dehydration of the resulting glucose units. However, the integration of these reactions in a single process remains technically challenging, and the direct use of monosaccharides is often preferred. In this work we report a new method for the synthesis of AMF based on the acetolysis of cellulose acetate in the presence of sulfuric acid. The strategy was optimized for both batch and continuous processing. Furthermore, cellulose acetate prepared by direct wood acetylation could be successfully applied as a precursor, proving the method as a robust solution for integrated biomass processing.Large biomass exploitation for chemicals and fuel production is still awaiting integrated processing.

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AbstractCellulose, the most abundant polymer of biomass, has an enormous potential as a source of chemicals and energy. However, its nature does not facilitate its exploitation in industry. As an entry point, here, two different strategies to hydrolyse cellulose are proposed. A solid and a liquid acid catalysts are tested. As a solid acid catalyst, zirconia and different zirconia-doped materials are proved, meanwhile liquid acid catalyst is carried out by sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid proved to hydrolyse 78% of cellulose, while zirconia doped with sulfur converted 22% of cellulose. Both hydrolysates were used for fermentation with different microbial strains depending on the desired product: Citrobacter freundii H3 and Lactobacillus delbrueckii, for H