Catalytic Transformations of Birch Kraft Pulp

Abstract

The goal of the work was to investigate hydrolysis and hydrogenation of a mixture of cellulose and hemicelluloses. Hydrolysis and hydrolytic hydrogenation of bleached birch (betula) kraft pulp from a Finnish pulping mill and microcrystalline cellulose (Aldrich) into sugars and sugar alcohols was carried out in the liquid phase in a batch mode under 20 bar of hydrogen at 458 K. Proton forms of different microporous and mesoporous materials, Pt modified MCM-48, MCM-41 mesoporous material, and Pt on Al2O3 were used in the catalytic experiments. The conversion of cellulose and hemicelluloses was dependent on the type of zeolite structure, strength of active sites, their number, and presence of metal. The ratio of formed monomers/dimers varied because of the pore size of the used catalyst. The yields of the main products, for example, sugars, sugar alcohols, and furfurals (xylose, glucose, xylitol, sorbitol, furfural, furfuryl alcohol, and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural), were shown to depend on the type of substrate as well as on the active sites, acidity, presence of metal, and structure of the zeolite and mesoporous material.

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) Production from Real Biomasses

“…Another real feedstock used for HMF synthesis is bleached birch ( Betula ) kraft pulp containing both cellulose and hemicelluloses and obtained from a Finnish pulping mill [ 49 ]. The authors investigated proton forms and Pt modifications of different materials (MCM-22, MCM-48, MCM-41), Al/SBA-15, Pt/Al 2 O 3 .…”

Mechanism and Kinetic Analysis of the Hydrogenolysis of Cellulose to Polyols

“…Various acidic supports were employed, including Al 2 O 3 [9,19,37], SiO 2 -Al 2 O 3 [9], ZSM-5 [25], MCM-41 [38], MCM-48 [38], H-USY [9], Cs 3 PW 12 O 40 [21], AC-SO 3 [42], zirconium phosphate (ZrP) [31,43], PTA/MIL-100(Cr) [44], and NbOPO 4 [45]. These supports possess Brønsted acid sites for cellulose hydrolysis and sometimes also afford Lewis acid sites for cellulose activation and sugar isomerization [31,46].…”

Sulfated Zirconia Catalysts for D-Sorbitol Cascade Cyclodehydration to Isosorbide: Impact of Zirconia Phase

“…D-Sorbitol, a precursor to isosorbide, is readily produced from carbohydrates, , with up to 90% yields possible via the one-pot hydrolytic hydrogenation of cellulose, − and is consequently identified as one of the top 10 bioderived platform chemicals by the U.S. Department of Energy . However, current routes to isosorbide from D-sorbitol employ liquid sulfuric acid for the catalytic cyclodehydration, , which is undesirable due to the hazards in handling corrosive mineral acids, and the large volume of contaminated water waste produced in quenching the reaction to isolate isosorbide.…”