Biphasic single-reactor process for dehydration of xylose and hydrogenation of produced furfural

The processes of xylose dehydration and the consecutive furfural hydrogenation have been combined in a single biphasic reactor. The dehydration was studied over Amberlyst-15 and the hydrogenation over a hydrophobic Ru/C catalyst. 1-Butanol, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran and cyclohexane were used as solvents in the process. The hydrogenation catalyst in the reactor was present in the organic phase and the dehydration catalyst in the aqueous phase. An increase of the hydrophobicity of the solvent in the order 1-butanol < 2-methyltetrahydrofuran < cyclohexane suppressed the hydrogenation of xylose to xylitol due to a decrease of the xylose solubility, while forming furfural hydrogenation products. The main product is tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol.

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► Xylose dehydration to furfural with hydrogenation was studied in a biphasic process.
► Amberlyst-15 and Ru/C were localized in the aqueous and organic phases, respectively.
► The main product of combined process is tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol.
► Suppression of xylose hydrogenation increases in the order 1-butanol < MTHF < cyclohexane.
► The selectivity to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol from xylose at 30% conversion was 50%.