The
well-known interconversion of aldoses to their corresponding
ketoses was discovered more than a century ago, but has recently attracted
renewed attention due to alternative application areas. Since the
pioneering discovery, much work has been directed toward improving
the process of isomerization of aldoses in terms of yields, catalysts,
solvents, catalytic systems, etc., by both enzymatic and chemo-catalytic
approaches. Among aldose–ketose interconversion reactions,
fructose production by glucose isomerization to make high-fructose
corn syrup (HFCS) is an industrially important and large biocatalytic
process today, and a large number of studies have been reported on
the process development. In parallel, also alternative chemo-catalytic
systems have emerged, as enzymatic conversion has drawbacks, though
they are typically more selective and produce fructose under mild
reaction conditions. Isomerization of glucose is also a central reaction
for making renewable platform chemicals, such as lactic acid, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural
(HMF), and levulinic acid. In these other applications, thermally
stable catalysts are required, thus making use of enzymatic catalysis
inadequate, since enzymes generally possess a limited temperature
operating window, typically less than 80 °C. From this viewpoint,
the chemo-catalystsespecially solid heterogeneous catalystsare
playing a key role for the development of not only making HFCS, but
also making chemicals and fuels from glucose via the isomerized product/intermediate
fructose. This review focuses on how both enzyme- and chemo-catalysts
are being useful for the isomerization of glucose to fructose. Specifically,
development of Lewis acid-containing zeolites for glucose isomerization
is reviewed in detail, including mechanism, isotopic labeling, and
computational studies.