Towards Improved Biorefinery Technologies
Low chemical stability and high oxygen content limits utilization of bio?based platform chemical 5?(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) in biofuels development. In this work, Lewis?acid?catalyzed conversion of renewable 6?deoxy sugars leading to formation of more stable 5?methylfurfural (MF) is carried out with high selectivity. Besides its higher stability, MF is a deoxygenated analogue of HMF with increased C:O ratio. A highly selective synthesis of the innovative liquid biofuel 2,5?dimethylfuran starting from MF under mild conditions is described. Superior synthetic utility of MF against HMF in benzoin and aldol condensation reactions leading to long?chain alkane precursors is demonstrated.
Reference: ChemSusChem, 2018, ASAP
On-line version: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cssc.201802126
