Solvent Effects in Acid‐Catalyzed Biomass Conversion Reactions1. (11th September 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mellmer, Max A.; Sener, Canan; Gallo, Jean Marcel R.; Luterbacher, Jeremy S.; Alonso, David Martin; Dumesic, James A.
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie. Volume 126:Number 44(2014)
• Page Start: 12066
• Page End: 12069
• Publication Date: 2014-09-11
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/ange.201408359
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0044-8249

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Reaction kinetics were studied to quantify the effects of polar aprotic organic solvents on the acid‐catalyzed conversion of xylose into furfural. A solvent of particular importance is γ‐valerolactone (GVL), which leads to significant increases in reaction rates compared to water in addition to increased product selectivity. GVL has similar effects on the kinetics for the dehydration of 1, 2‐propanediol to propanal and for the hydrolysis of cellobiose to glucose. Based on results obtained for homogeneous Brønsted acid catalysts that span a range of p<italic>K</italic>_a values, we suggest that an aprotic organic solvent affects the reaction kinetics by changing the stabilization of the acidic proton relative to the protonated transition state. This same behavior is displayed by strong solid Brønsted acid catalysts, such as H‐mordenite and H‐beta.</p> </abstract>