Carbohydrate Polymers, 146 (2016) 20–25

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.03.049

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.

Manufacture of furfural in biphasic media made up of an ionic liquid and a co-solvent

Industrial Crops and Products, 77, 163-166 (2015)

DOI: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2015.08.048

Xylose was converted into furfural operating in a medium containing the acidic ionic liquid (AIL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate, in the presence of toluene as a co-solvent. No catalytic species different from the AIL were needed for furfural production from xylose. Operating at 100-140. °C for 15-480. min in media containing 10. g xylose/100. g AIL and 2-4. g toluene/g (AIL. +. xylose), most furfural generated in the AIL phase was transferred to the co-solvent, limiting the losses caused by undesired side reactions. Operating under optimal conditions (140. °C for 240. min using 4.4. g toluene/g initial AIL phase), xylose was almost completely consumed, and furfural was obtained at 73.8% of the stoichiometric yield.