No abstract

A new series of heteropolyacids [(CH3)3NCH2CH2OH]nH5−nAlW12O40 are used to catalyse the single step conversion of cellulose into levulinic acid (LA). The highest reported yield of LA directly from cellulose was achieved with 74.8% yield and 98.9% conversion in one pot.

Cs2[Cr3O(OOCC2H5)6(H2O)3]2[α-SiW12O40], a chromium-based heteropoly acid (HPA) ionic crystal, was demonstrated to be an active heterogeneous catalyst for production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from fructose or glucose.

A series of heteropolyacid (HPA) ionic liquids [C 4 H 6 N 2 (CH 2 ) 3 SO 3 H] 32n H n PW 12 O 40 ([MIMPSH] n H 32n PW 12 O 40 , n = 1, 2 3, abbreviated as [MIMPSH] n H 32n PW) was used to catalyze one-pot depolymerization of cellulose into glucose. Their performances were much better than those of the previously reported HPAs, such as H 3 PW 12 O 40 , Cs 2.5 H 0.5 PW 12 O 40 . Besides cellulose, the HPA ionic liquids were able to catalyze the conversion of sucrose and starch into glucose. In addition, onepot synthesis of levulinic acid (LA) directly from cellulose was realized using these HPA ionic liquid catalysts in a water-methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) biphasic system. The separation of the products and catalysts was easy, and the retrieved [MIMPSH] n H 32n PW could be repeatedly used without appreciable loss of performance.