Highly Efficient Conversion of Xylose to Furfural in a Water–MIBK System Catalyzed by Magnetic Carbon-Based Solid Acid

Abstract

In this work, the conversion of xylose to furfural (FF) was effectively achieved in a water-MIBK biphasic solvent system over the synthesized magnetic carbon-based solid acid catalyst (MMCSA). The effect of various reaction conditions was studied on the dehydration of xylose and the highest FF yield of 79.04% was obtained.Byproducts in the reaction process were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), which provides insights into the reaction pathway of the xylose conversion to FF over the current catalyst. The observed deactivation of the catalyst at high temperature (190 o C) was addressed by its regeneration with concentrated sulfuric acid (98 wt%). A comparable FF yield (73.74%) was achieved over the regenerated MMCSA. The possible deactivation-regeneration mechanism of this catalyst has also been proposed. Overall, this work provides a valuable basis for the efficient synthesis of FF by solid acid catalyzed conversion of xylose or hemicellulose.

Facile preparation protocol of magnetic mesoporous carbon acid catalysts via soft-template self-assembly method and their applications in conversion of xylose into furfural

“…The results reveal that the S content dramatically decreased from that of fresh catalyst. This suggests that the decline in FF yield was caused by loss of the SO 3 H acid sites during repeated runs [49,[54][55][56]. The FF yield decrease has been observed in prior studies on FF production from xylose catalysed by an SO 3 H solid catalyst [23,55,57,58].…”

“…This suggests that the decline in FF yield was caused by loss of the SO 3 H acid sites during repeated runs [49,[54][55][56]. The FF yield decrease has been observed in prior studies on FF production from xylose catalysed by an SO 3 H solid catalyst [23,55,57,58]. Although after the fifth run the FF yield had clearly degraded, the catalyst could still be easily separated with a magnet (electronic supplementary material, figure S2).…”

Dehydration of Xylose to Furfural over Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquid with Phase Separation

“…It was noted that the maximum conversion and yield were obtained at 160 • C, but the reaction temperature was above 160 • C and furfural yield decreased. The decrease in yield at 160 • C indicated that side reaction rates increased more than that of furfural formation [24]. Subsequently, temperature (160 • C) and time (120 min) were used as reaction conditions.…”

Synthesis of a Stable Solid Acid Catalyst from Chloromethyl Polystyrene through a Simple Sulfonation for Pretreatment of Lignocellulose in Aqueous Solution

“…was used to hydrolyze xylose to produce furfural under more severe hydrothermal condition (190 °C). The main reason why its reusability is difficult to guarantee is still the leaching of the −SO 3 H group, which acts as the catalytic active center [50] . The study of Lang et al.…”