Selective production and characterization of aromatic carboxylic acids from Xianfeng lignite-derived residue by mild oxidation in aqueous H2O2 solution

Abstract

Lignites show great potential as feedstock for the production of valuable carboxylic acids by mild oxidation. In this study, valuable aromatic polycarboxylic acids were produced from Xianfeng lignite-derived residue (XLDR) through mild oxidation in green aqueous H2O2 solution. The results show that XLDR oxidation can produce benzene carboxylic acids (BCAs) and polycyclic aromatic carboxylic acids (PCACAs) in high selectivity. The BCAs are dominated by mellitic acid and benzenepentacarboxylic acid with 55.5% and 13.3% in the total yield of all group components based on the analysis with gas chromatography/mass spectrometer. Moreover, three series of PCACAs with an aliphatic ring were identified by direct analysis in a real-time ionization source coupled to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The BCAs and PCACAs could be generated from different kinds of aromatic structures via oxidation by OH produced from H2O2.