Furfural production from Eucalyptus wood using an Acidic Ionic Liquid

• A concentrate containing hemicellulosic saccharides (HS) was obtained from wood.
• HS was employed as a substrate for furfural manufacture.
• An Acidic Ionic Liquid was employed as a solvent and as a catalyst.
• Operation was carried out in the presence of a co-solvent (dioxane).
• The optimal furfural conversion (59.1%) was achieved at 160 °C.

Eucalyptus globulus wood samples were treated with hot, compressed water to separate hemicelluloses (as soluble saccharides) from a solid phase mainly made up of cellulose and lignin. The liquid phase was dehydrated, and the resulting solids (containing pentoses as well as poly- and oligo- saccharides made up of pentoses) were dissolved and reacted in media containing an Acidic Ionic Liquid (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate) and a co-solvent (dioxane). The effects of the reaction time on the product distribution were studied at temperatures in the range 120–170 °C for reaction times up to 8 h, and operational conditions leading to 59.1% conversion of the potential substrates (including pentoses and pentose structural units in oligo- and poly- saccharides) into furfural were identified.