Ionic buffering biphase systems as catalysts and solvents for efficient dehydration of xylose and hemicellulose to furfural

Abstract

The utilization of biomass instead of fossil resources for the synthesis of various chemicals is regarded as one of the most important strategies to realize sustainable and environmentally-friendly chemical industry. The design and development of suitable catalysts for biomass conversion are of particular significance. Herein, ionic buffering biphase systems (IBBSs) consisting of ionic buffering catalysts (IBCs) and an organic phase as extractant are proposed and developed for the dehydration of xylose and hemicellulose to furfural (FF). The systems can efficiently catalyze the conversion of xylose and hemicellulose to FF and significantly reduce the use of NaCl. High FF yields of 76.4% or 85.1% were realized with almost complete conversion of hemicellulose or xylose. The IBBSs have advantages of simple preparation, thermal stability, and low cost, not to mention the facts that they enable both the excellent extraction of FF product from aqueous phase to oil phase and the easy recycling of ionic buffering catalyst. This work offers a new strategy of designing and developing catalytic reaction-separation coupling systems for the efficient conversion of xylose and hemicellulose to FF.