Review Article
Emerging heterogeneous catalysts for biomass conversion: studies of the reaction mechanism
This review analyses the reaction mechanisms for the conversion of biomass and derivatives studied by inelastic neutron scattering, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, NMR, isotope-labelling and computational techniques.
Sono- and mechanochemical technologies in the catalytic conversion of biomass
This tutorial review focuses on the valorisation of biomass by sonochemical and mechanochemical activation.
Photocatalytic transformations of lignocellulosic biomass into chemicals
This review highlights recent advances in photocatalytic transformations of lignocellulosic biomass (polysaccharides and lignin) into chemicals (in particular organic oxygenates).
Review Article
Biomass-derived chemical substitutes for bisphenol A: recent advancements in catalytic synthesis
Rigid diols catalytically produced from biomass derivatives have been proposed as bisphenol A functional replacements.
Review Article
Advances in catalytic routes for the production of carboxylic acids from biomass: a step forward for sustainable polymers
This review revises the advances in the chemocatalytic processes for producing renewable carboxylic acids for the synthesis of bio-based polymers and proposes the actions to overcome the problems threatening their technical and economic viability.
Downstream processing of lignin derived feedstock into end products
This review provides critical analysis on various downstream processes to convert lignin derived feedstock into fuels, chemicals and materials.
Recent catalytic routes for the preparation and the upgrading of biomass derived furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural
This review presents recent advances in the production of biomass derived furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and in their catalytic conversion into chemicals and fuels via transfer hydrogenation, photocatalytic and electrocatalytic processes.
Metal organic frameworks for biomass conversion
This review narrates the recent developments on the catalytic applications of pristine metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), functionalized MOFs, guests embedded over MOFs and MOFs derived carbon composites for biomass conversion into platform chemicals.
Tutorial Review
Biomass valorisation over metal-based solid catalysts from nanoparticles to single atoms
Metal size and speciation strongly impact catalyst efficiency and robustness in biomass upgrading through redox and acid-mediated reactions, with the full potential of single atoms and low-nuclearity species still to be unlocked by future research.
Heteroatom-participated lignin cleavage to functionalized aromatics
Heteroatom-containing reagents triggered the catalytic cleavage of lignin linkages and functionalization of products simultaneously.
About this collection
We are delighted to present a Chemical Society Reviews themed collection on “Catalytic advances for biomass conversion and upgrading”, Guest Edited by Rafael Luque (Universidad de Córdoba), Luigi Vaccaro (University of Perugia) and Yingwei Li (South China University of Technology). The valorization of lignocellulosic biomass, in the form of forest and agricultural wastes, industrial processing side-streams, and dedicated energy crops, toward chemicals, fuels and added-value products has become a major research area with increasing exploitation potential. The efficient and tailored depolymerization of biomass or its primary structural components (hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin) to platform chemicals, i.e., sugars, phenolics, furans, ketones, organic acids, etc. is highly dependent on the development of novel or modified chemo- and bio-catalytic processes that take into account the peculiarities and recalcitrance of biomass as feedstock, compared for example to petroleum fractions. Upgrading of such platform chemicals to valuable end products including chemicals, materials and fuels using advanced (bio)catalytic systems is of utmost importance for a more sustainable future society.
This themed collection will give an overview of current research and development in the (bio)catalytic conversion and upgrading of biomass and future trends, addressing various representative reactions and processes in catalytic biomass valorization and upgrading, and highlighting the importance of developing novel, efficient and stable nano-(bio)catalysts with tailored properties according to the nature of the reactant/feedstock and targeted products.