Mo-based bio-derived carbon catalyst enables a tandem dehydration reaction for the direct synthesis of fuel precursors from fructose

Abstract

In the pursuit of sustainable alternatives for petroleum fuels, bio-based hydrocarbons emerge as a promising choice. To explore this, a molybdenum catalyst supported on bio-derived carbon was developed, enabling the direct synthesis of fuel precursors from fructose. The catalyst was synthesized by varying the wt.% of molybdenum loading through hydrothermal treatment and carbonization. The NH3-TPD analysis revealed the presence of 1 mmol/g of acidic sites on best the catalyst. HRTEM and XPS analysis reveals that the majority of molybdenum is present as Mo6+. The synthesized catalyst effectively facilitated the dehydration of fructose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), followed by hydroxyalkylation/alkylation (DHAA) of 5-HMF with 2-methylfuran. Furthermore, compared to commercial Brønsted acid catalysts, the synthesized catalyst demonstrated remarkable performance, achieving complete fructose conversion with 36% selectivity towards the DHAA product. Moreover, an innovative approach was developed for the separation of 5,5′-((5-((5-methylfuran-2-yl)methyl)furan-2-yl)methylene)bis(2-methylfuran) and 5-HMF from dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) using a saturated aqueous sodium chloride (NaCl) solution in tetrahydrofuran (THF). This developed method, utilizing the bio-derived catalyst with efficient catalytic performance and effective product separation from DMSO, shows great promise for directly synthesizing fuel precursors from fructose and advancing sustainable fuel production.