Issue 21, 2021

Solvent effect on xylose-to-furfural reaction in biphasic systems: combined experiments with theoretical calculations

Abstract

The present report focuses on the solvent effect on furfural production from xylose in biphasic systems with methods including combined experiments, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Six most effective and commonly used biphasic solvents for furfural production were comparatively analyzed and discussed based on the kinetic study, partition coefficient, degradation behavior of furfural in organic solvents, distribution of solvent molecules around xylose/furfural molecules, hydrogen bonding, moving trajectories of xylose/furfural, and the solvation free energy. During the hydrothermal reaction of xylose to furfural in biphasic systems, it was found that the conversion efficiency of biphasic systems can be ordered as DCM/H2O > 2-MTHF/H2O > 2-butanol/H2O ≈ MIBK/H2O > CPME/H2O > toluene/H2O according to the xylose conversion and furfural yield, which are dominated by the solvation free energy (ΔGsol) of furfural in organic solvents, and also be affected by three other factors, namely, the maximum solubility of furfural in organic solvents, the ΔGsol value of organic solvents in water, and the side reaction of furfural in organic solvents. The degradation rate of furfural in 2-butanol was detected to be the fastest, and molecular dynamics simulation data showed that the hydrogen bonding between furfural and 2-butanol may accelerate the degradation of furfural. DCM has excellent extraction ability for furfural, and the maximum furfural yield in the DCM/H2O system (81.64%) is much higher than that in other systems during the hydrothermal reaction without additional catalysts.

Graphical abstract: Solvent effect on xylose-to-furfural reaction in biphasic systems: combined experiments with theoretical calculations

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 আগষ্ট 2021
Accepted
22 চেপ্টে 2021
First published
23 চেপ্টে 2021

Green Chem., 2021,23, 8510-8518

Solvent effect on xylose-to-furfural reaction in biphasic systems: combined experiments with theoretical calculations

Q. Lin, Q. Zhan, R. Li, S. Liao, J. Ren, F. Peng and L. Li, Green Chem., 2021, 23, 8510 DOI: 10.1039/D1GC02812J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements