Cracking of Cellulose over Supported Metal Catalysts

Abstract

Cellulose is cracked over supported Pt or Ru catalysts under hydrogenolysis conditions in water to give sorbitol as a main product. Among the catalysts tested, Pt/γ-Al 2 O 3 gave the highest yield and selectivity, and this catalyst was recyclable in repeated runs. It is proposed that cellulose is hydrolyzed by in situ generated acid sites to form glucose, and glucose is immediately reduced to sorbitol over the metal catalyst.

Catalytic transformation of cellulose into platform chemicals

“…Additionally, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), gluconic acid, and other derivatives have been expected as feedstock in the bio-based industry. Hence, the conversion of cellulose has attracted worldwide interest; however, the effective degradation of cellulose is a challenge because the polymer has rigid, chemically-stable, and water-insoluble properties, which are induced from the inter-and intra-molecular hydrogen-bondings [15][16][17][18]. A large number of strategies have been applied in this subject [19][20][21][22][23].…”

One-pot Conversion from Lignocellulosic Biomass to Isosorbide

“…Currently, cellulose is the most promising component of lignocellulosic biomass because of its abundance and easy conversion via the intermediate sorbitol into valuable chemicals 4), 5) . Sorbitol can be produced by one-step cracking of cellulose using a platinum catalyst and hydrogen in water 6), 7) . Direct conversion of cellulose into sorbitol has been reported by hydrogenolysis using supported metal catalysts with hydrogen 6) 14) .…”

Cellulose hydrogenolysis with the use of the catalysts supported on hypercrosslinked polystyrene

“…In this case the efficiency of the catalyst is of primary importance. Ru-containing catalysts are known to be the most active in the glucose hydrogenation to sorbitol [1,7,10,13,14]. However the question of a suitable carrier of the active phase is under discussion.…”