Catalytic Transformation of Biomass-Derived 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural over Supported Bimetallic Iridium-Based Catalysts

Conversion of biomass-derived sorbitol to glycols over carbon-materials supported Ru-based catalysts.

Ruthenium (Ru) supported on activated carbon (AC) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was carried out in the hydrogenolysis of sorbitol to ethylene glycol (EG) and 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PD) under the promotion of tungsten (WOx) species and different bases. Their catalytic activities and glycols selectivities strongly depended on the support properties and location of Ru on CNTs, owning to the altered me...

Enhanced Oxygen Activation over Supported Bimetallic Au-Ni Catalysts

Conversion of biomass-derived levulinate and formate esters into γ-valerolactone over supported gold catalysts.

The utilization of biomass has recently attracted tremendous attention as a potential alternative to petroleum for the production of liquid fuels and chemicals. We report an efficient alcohol-mediated reactive extraction strategy by which a hydrophobic mixture of butyl levulinate and formate esters, derived from cellulosic biomass, can be converted to valuable γ-valerolactone (GVL) by a simple ...

Catalytic dehydrogenation of isopentane with iridium catalysts.

The catalytic activation of alkanes under mild conditions to give the corresponding alkenes and hydrogen has tremendous industrial implications because olefins are the most important starting materials for large-scale industrial processes such as olefin polymerization, dimerization, oligomerization, hydroformylation, and metathesis. In the search for a process by which olefins can be produced f...

Superelectrophilic activation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 2,5-diformylfuran: organic synthesis based on biomass-derived products

The reaction of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) with arenes in superacidic trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (triflic acid, TfOH) as the solvent at room temperature for 1-24 h gives rise to 5-arylmethylfurfurals (yields of 17-91%) and 2-arylmethyl-5-(diarylmethyl)furans (yields of 10-37%). The formation of these two types of reaction products depends on the nucleophilicity of the arene. The same re...