5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Hydrodeoxygenation to 2,5-Dimethylfuran in Continuous-Flow System over Ni on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon

Francesco Brandi,Valerio Molinari,Majd Al-Naji,Irina Shekova,Marius Bäumel

doi:10.3390/suschem1020009

Abstract

Waste lignocellulosic biomass is sustainable and an alternative feedstock to fossil resources. Among the lignocellulosic derived compounds, 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) is a promising building block for chemicals, e.g., p-xylene, and a valuable biofuel. DMF can be obtained from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) via catalytic deoxygenation using non-noble metals such as Ni in the presence of H2. Herein, we present the synthesis of DMF from HMF using 35 wt.% Ni on nitrogen-doped carbon pellets (35Ni/NDC) as a catalyst in a continuous flow system. The conversion of HMF to DMF was studied at different hydrogen pressures, reaction temperatures, and space times. At the best reaction conditions, i.e., 423 K, 8.0 MPa, and space time 6.4 kgNi h kgHMF−1, the 35Ni/NDC catalyst exhibited high catalytic activity with HMF conversion of 99 mol% and 80 mol% of DMF. These findings can potentially contribute to the transition toward the production of sustainable fine chemicals and liquid transportation fuels.

Highlights

Nowadays, crude oil is the principal raw material for the production of chemicals and fuels
We present the synthesis of DMF from HMF using 35 wt.% Ni on nitrogen-doped carbon pellets (35Ni/NDC) as a catalyst in a continuous flow system
Hexose and pentose sugars are the main components of cellulose and hemicellulose, which correspond to about 80% of the whole biomass [4]

Summary

Introduction

Crude oil is the principal raw material for the production of chemicals and fuels. It raised the need for more sustainable feedstock for energy and materials, which has to meet the growing demand for goods [2]. For these reasons, the search for a sustainable alternative to crude oil represents one of the major challenges for scientists [3]. Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) represents a promising candidate to replace fossil resources for fuels and chemicals [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. LCB is already available on a megaton (Mton) scale per year as a waste co-product from a wide series of established industrial processes, such as agroforestry and pulp processes [17,18]

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion