Hydrogenation of crude and purified d-glucosone generated by enzymatic oxidation of d-glucose

Abstract

D-Fructose is an important starting material for producing furfurals and other industrially important chemicals. While the base-catalyzed and enzymatic conversion of D-glucose to D-fructose is well known, the employed methods typically provide limited conversion. D-Glucosone can be obtained from D-glucose by enzymatic oxidation at the C2 position and, subsequently, selectively hydrogenated at C1 to form D-fructose. This work describes an investigation on the hydrogenation of D-glucosone, using both chromatographically purified and crude material obtained directly from the enzymatic oxidation, subjected to filtration and lyophilization only. High selectivities towards D-fructose were observed for both starting materials over a Ru/C catalyst. Hydrogenation of the crude D-glucosone was, however, inhibited by the impurities resulting from the enzymatic oxidation process. Catalyst deactivation was observed in the case of both starting materials.