New Approach to Dehydration of Xylose to 2-Furfuraldehyde Using a Mesoporous Niobium-Based Catalyst

José B Gabriel; Victor Oliveira; Talita Evelyn de Souza; Izabela Padula; Luiz C A Oliveira; Leandro V A Gurgel; Bruno Eduardo L Baêta; Adilson C Silva

doi:10.1021/acsomega.0c01547

New Approach to Dehydration of Xylose to 2-Furfuraldehyde Using a Mesoporous Niobium-Based Catalyst

ACS Omega. 2020 Aug 20;5(34):21392-21400. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c01547. eCollection 2020 Sep 1.

Authors

José B Gabriel^{1

2}, Victor Oliveira¹, Talita Evelyn de Souza², Izabela Padula², Luiz C A Oliveira², Leandro V A Gurgel¹, Bruno Eduardo L Baêta¹, Adilson C Silva¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Technological and Environmental Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Exact and Biological Sciences (ICEB), Federal University of Ouro Preto, Campus Universitário Morro do Cruzeiro, Bauxita, 35400-000 Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
² Department of Chemistry, Institute of Exact Sciences (ICEX), Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Avenida Antônio Carlos, 6627, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Abstract

Furfural chemistry is one of the most promising platforms directly derived from lignocellulose biomass. In this study, a niobium-based catalyst (mNb-bc) was synthesized by a new fast and simple method. This new method uses microemulsion to obtain a catalyst with a high specific surface area (340 m² g^-1), defined mesoporosity, and high acidity (65 μmol g^-1). Scanning electron microscopy revealed that mNb-bc has a rough surface. The mNb-bc was used to catalyze the conversion reaction of xylose into 2-furfuraldehyde in a monophasic system using water as a green solvent. This reaction was investigated using a 2³ experimental design by varying the temperature, time, and catalyst-to-xylose ratio (CXR). The responses evaluated were xylose conversion (X _c), reaction yield (Y), and selectivity to 2-furfuraldehyde (S). The optimized reaction conditions were used to evaluate the reaction kinetics. At milder reaction conditions of 140 °C, 2 h, and a CXR of 10%, mNb-bc led to an X _c value of 41.2%, an S value of 77.1%, and a Y value of 31.8%.