Sulfonated sporopollenin as an efficient and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for dehydration of D-xylose and xylan into furfural

Wang, Yantao; Len, Thomas; Huang, Youkui; Diego Taboada, Alberto; Boa, Andrew N.; Ceballos, Claire; Delbecq, Frederic; Mackenzie, Grahame; Len, Christophe

Abstract

The natural acidity of sporopollenin, the biopolymer coating the outer walls of pollen grains, was enhanced by the sulfonation of its surface. Modified sporopollenin displaying sulfonic acid groups has been prepared, characterized by elemental analysis, SEM, EDX, FTIR and XPS and tested as a heterogeneous catalyst in the dehydration of D-xylose and xylan to produce furfural. The optimal reaction conditions involve 10 wt % of sulfonated sporopollenin in the presence of 1.5 mmol of NaCl in a biphasic water-CPME system. When heated at 190 °C, the reaction affords furfural in a yield of 69% after 40 min under microwave irradiation. The time dependence of the dehydration and influence of temperature, pentose loading and positive effect of chloride ions on the reaction rate are reported. It was found that the catalytic system, recharged with the pentose and solvent, could be recycled ten times without loss of performance. The transformation of xylan into furfural at 190 °C for 50 min gave furfural in a yield of 37%.

Citation

Wang, Y., Len, T., Huang, Y., Diego Taboada, A., Boa, A. N., Ceballos, C., Delbecq, F., Mackenzie, G., & Len, C. (2017). Sulfonated sporopollenin as an efficient and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for dehydration of D-xylose and xylan into furfural. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 5(1), 392-398. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b01780

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 24, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Oct 24, 2016
• Publication Date: 2017
• Deposit Date: Oct 27, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2016
• Journal: ACS sustainable chemistry & engineering
• Print ISSN: 2168-0485
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 392-398
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b01780
• Keywords: Furfural, D-xylose, Xylan, Sporopollenin, Biphasic system, Microwave-aided dehydration
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/444667
• Publisher URL: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b01780
• Additional Information: This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ACS sustainable chemistry & engineering, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b01780
• Contract Date: Oct 27, 2016