One-pot production of hydrocarbons from xylitol by hydroiodic acid reduction

• An innovative approach for converting xylitol into heavier hydrocarbons has been proposed.
• The molar ratio of reactants has significant effect on the yield of hydrocarbons.
• A yield of 80.3% for heavier hydrocarbons was achieved at a xylitol/HI/H3PO3/H2O molar ratio of 0.4:1:2:12.
• The formation of hydrocarbons is mainly due to the umpolung (polarity inversion) of C–I bond.

In this work, direct production of heavier hydrocarbons from biomass-derived xylitol by reduction with hydroiodic acid (HI) in the presence of phosphorous acid (H3PO3) was studied. The effects of the feed ratio of raw materials, mixing intensity, and reaction time on catalytic performance were investigated by experiments. It was found that the molar ratio of xylitol/HI and H2O/HI had significant effects on the conversion of xylitol and yield of hydrocarbons. A maximum yield of 80.3% for hydrocarbons was achieved at a xylitol/HI/H3PO3/H2O molar ratio of 0.4:1:2:12, a mixing intensity of 800 rpm, and a reaction time of 12 h. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) were used to determine the amount of xylitol and to analyze the composition of hydrocarbon products, respectively. The hydrocarbons obtained are mainly C10 and C15 hydrocarbons with aromatic rings, which have a high heating value of 43 kJ/g, making them suitable for diesel or/and jet fuel substitutes.

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