In this paper both the mechanistic and kinetic aspects of furfural formation from pentoses in aqueous acidic media have been reviewed. Based on the reviewed literature, a comprehensive reaction mechanism has been proposed consisting of more than one route, all starting from acyclic xylose, and involving alternately 1,2-enolization, β-elimination or isomerization via 1,2-hydride shift as key ste...

G. Baskar, M. Dharmendira Kumar, A. Anand Prabu, S. Renganathan, and ChangKyoo Yoo a Department of Biotechnology, St. Joseph’s College of Engineering, Chennai 600119, India Department of Chemical Engineering, Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University, Chennai 600025, India Green Energy Center for Environmental Studies, College of Environmental and Applied Chemistry, Kyung Hee University, ...

Biofuels and -chemicals can be produced from carbohydrates in lignocellulosic biomass. For an efficient total enzymatic hydrolysis of the plant cell wall polysaccharides, a pretreatment step is required. Ionic liquids (ILs) have recently gained considerable interest as solvents for cellulose and lignocellulosic biomass and pretreatment of lignocellulose with ILs is currently an extensively stud...

Through catalytic epoxidation and aziridination of olefins versatile synthetic intermediates and subunits of biologically active compounds and pharmaceuticals –epoxides and aziridines– can be obtained. The focus of this review is on recent advances in the epoxidation and aziridination of challenging terminal alkenes with respect to safety of solvents or reagents used and atom economy aspects, a...

Flow chemistry and continuous processing can offer many ways to make synthesis a more sustainable practice. These technologies help bridge the large gap between academic and industrial settings by often providing a more reproducible, scalable, safe and efficient option for performing chemical reactions. In this review, we use selected examples to demonstrate how continuous methods of synthesis ...

This review presents an overview of the initial targeted chemical processing stages for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to platform molecules that serve as intermediates for the production of carbonbased fuels and chemicals. We identify four classes of platform molecules that can be obtained in an initial chemical processing step: (i) sugars, (ii) dehydration products, (iii) polyols and (...

What follows is a summary of remarks presented by panelists participating in a workshop entitled, “What Green Chemistry Means to Workers.” The session examined the connection between green jobs—including those connected to the emerging field of green chemistry—and occupational, public, and environmental health. It was coordinated by Paul Renner, associate director of the Labor Institute, in col...

White biotechnology can be regarded as applied biocatalysis, with enzymes and microorganisms, aiming at industrial production of bulk and fine chemicals to food and animal feed additives. In its turn biocatalysis has many attractive features in the context of greenchemistry: mild reaction conditions (physiological pH and temperature); environmentally compatible catalysts and solvent (often wate...

The use of heterogenization as a method for achieving clean synthesis is discussed. The chemical modification of mesoporous solids can be used to make a range of catalysts, including solid acids and bases, and stable metal complexes for selective oxidations and other reactions. By avoiding an aqueous quench stage in the separation, the heterogenization of catalysts and reagents can lead to subs...

A mild and efficient one-pot three-component and environmentally benign approach for the synthesis of a wide range of hydantoin annulated derivatives has been described. A multi-component reaction between a carbonyl compounds (ketone or aldehyde), potassium cyanide and ammonium carbonate (as cyanating agent and amine source, respectively leads to the formation of hydantoins. The proposed optimi...