Xylose Isomerization to Xylulose and its Dehydration to Furfural in Aqueous Media

• Published in: ACS catalysis Vol. 1; no. 12; pp. 1724 - 1728
• Main Authors: Choudhary, Vinit, Pinar, Ana B, Sandler, Stanley I, Vlachos, Dionisios G, Lobo, Raul F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 02.12.2011
• Subjects: catalysis (homogeneous), catalysis (heterogeneous), biofuels (including algae and biomass), bio-inspired, hydrogen and fuel cells, materials and chemistry by design, synthesis (novel materials), synthesis (self-assembly), synthesis (scalable processing); INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; Sn-beta; xylulose; zeolite; isomerization; furfural; xylose
• ISSN: 2155-5435; 2155-5435
• DOI: 10.1021/cs200461t

A nonenzymatic route for xylose isomerization in an aqueous medium using zeolite Sn-beta as a catalyst is demonstrated. Xylulose and lyxose are the primary and secondary products. The maximum yield to xylulose is 27%, with an 11% yield to lyxose at ∼60% xylose conversion at 100 °C. When the Sn-beta zeolite is combined with a Brønsted acid catalyst, furfural forms in a single pot from xylose in an aqueous medium at much lower temperatures than typically employed for this reaction.