Development of a Reactor Setup for Continuous Dehydration of Carbohydrates

The shortage of fossil energy carriers demands the use of renewable and sustainable energy resources. Biomass has the potential to fulfill these needs. The chemical transformation of cellulose, being a main part of plant biomass, allows the production of a widespread variety of chemicals. One especially promising candidate as platform molecule is 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF). Until now 5-HMF was predominantly produced in batch reactions from fructose as substrate within high boiling solvents. A working setup for producing 5-HMF continuously out of fructose or in a coupled two-step reaction, out of glucose, in low boiling solvents is introduced.

[1]  C. Afonso,et al.  5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) as a building block platform: Biological properties, synthesis and synthetic applications , 2011 .

[2]  Manuel Moliner,et al.  "One-pot" synthesis of 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural from carbohydrates using tin-Beta zeolite , 2011 .

[3]  R. Palkovits.  Cellulose and Heterogeous Catalysis - A Combination for Future , 2011 .

[4]  Manuel Moliner,et al.  Mechanism of glucose isomerization using a solid Lewis acid catalyst in water. , 2010, Angewandte Chemie.

[5]  Manuel Moliner,et al.  Tin-containing zeolites are highly active catalysts for the isomerization of glucose in water , 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[6]  Atsushi Takagaki,et al.  A one-pot reaction for biorefinery: combination of solid acid and base catalysts for direct production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from saccharides. , 2009, Chemical communications.

[7]  James A. Dumesic,et al.  Solvent Effects on Fructose Dehydration to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural in Biphasic Systems Saturated with Inorganic Salts , 2009 .

[8]  R. Smith,et al.  Catalytic dehydration of fructose into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural by ion-exchange resin in mixed-aqueous system by microwave heating , 2008 .

[9]  Hiroyuki Yoshida,et al.  Kinetics of the Decomposition of Fructose Catalyzed by Hydrochloric Acid in Subcritical Water: Formation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural, Levulinic, and Formic Acids , 2007 .

[10]  C. Moreau,et al.  Dehydration of fructose and sucrose into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in the presence of 1-H-3-methyl imidazolium chloride acting both as solvent and catalyst , 2006 .

[11]  C. Moreau,et al.  Kinetic study of the isomerization of glucose into fructose in the presence of anion-modified hydrotalcites , 2002 .

[12]  S. Angyal.  The Lobry de Bruyn-Alberda van Ekenstein Transformation and Related Reactions , 2001 .

[13]  M. Rao,et al.  Molecular and industrial aspects of glucose isomerase. , 1996, Microbiological reviews.

[14]  H. Clever.  The ion product constant of water: Thermodynamics of water ionization , 1968 .