Insights into Iron Catalyzed Sugar Conversion to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and Levulinic Acid (LA) From Tandem Mass Spectrometry

摘要

The dramatic growth of human society and increasing greenhouse gas emissions necessitate the utilization of sustainable feedstocks to replace chemicals and fuels that are derived from nonrenewable crude oil in use today. Nonfood biomass is a renewable source of carbon. Hence, its conversion to platform chemicals, such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and levulinic acid (LA), is of great interest. Current industrial methods employ 1-10% mineral acid to do this conversion. However, concentrated mineral acids raise concerns about storage, corrosion of equipment, and high capital cost. Additionally, the production of HMF and LA is not selective requiring a product separation process, which increases the costs. Therefore, designing a more environmentally benign and effective catalytic system for producing HMF and LA is needed.