Direct Synthesis of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from Cellulose using Saturated Steam

Seiichiro Yoshida,Keiichiro Matsushima,Tohru Joboji

doi:10.1051/matecconf/202133305007

Seiichiro Yoshida, Keiichiro Matsushima + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/202133305007

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Abstract

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a compound that can be synthesized from cellulose, has attracted significant attention because it can be converted into various chemical products. Although various methods for the direct conversion of cellulose to HMF using special solvents and catalysts have been reported, they are not desirable in terms of green sustainable chemistry and manufacturing costs. Herein, we report the direct conversion of cellulose to HMF using saturated steam, i.e., water, as an environment-friendly method. We investigated the effects of the molecular weight of cellulose and amount of added water on the yields of glucose and HMF using a batch system. Glucose and HMF yields were improved by using low-molecular-weight cellulose as the raw material and the amount of added water was important for maximizing the HMF yield. The balance of hydrolysis and dehydration was controlled by optimizing the amount of added water, with a maximized HMF yields of 21%. This study demonstrates that saturated steam has great potential to be applied for the direct conversion of cellulose to HMF.

Highlights

The modern society is based on oil refineries, which produce many chemical products from petroleum
We investigated the effects of the molecular weight of cellulose and amount of water added on the yields of glucose and HMF
Commercially available microcrystalline cellulose was reacted under saturated steam conditions to determine whether glucose and HMF would form (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

The modern society is based on oil refineries, which produce many chemical products from petroleum. Due to potential exhaustion of petroleum resources and instability of their supply, use of a “biorefinery”, which synthesizes chemical products from biomass instead of petroleum, is desired. Various studies have attempted to convert cellulose, a plant biomass with extremely large reserves, into various chemical products. Among the useful chemical products obtained from cellulose, 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) has been actively studied because it can be subsequently converted to chemical products such as fuels, polymers, and pharmaceuticals (Rosatella et al, 2011). OH O HO Cellulose Hydrolysis n HO HO OH O Glucose Dehydration O O

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