Acid-catalyzed conversion of C6 sugar monomer/oligomers to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran and toluene: Importance of the solvent polarity

In this study, acid-catalyzed conversions of three typical C6 sugar monomers/oligomers (glucose, maltose, and beta-cyclodextrins) to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran (THF) and toluene have been investigated over a solid acid catalyst Amberlyst 70 (A70), aiming to understand behaviors of the...

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Main Authors: Hu, Xun, Wang, S., Westerhof, Roel, Wu, Liping, Song, Yao, Dong, Dehua, Li, Chun-Zhu
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier Ltd 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21016
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author Hu, Xun
Wang, S.
Westerhof, Roel
Wu, Liping
Song, Yao
Dong, Dehua
Li, Chun-Zhu
author_facet Hu, Xun
Wang, S.
Westerhof, Roel
Wu, Liping
Song, Yao
Dong, Dehua
Li, Chun-Zhu
author_sort Hu, Xun
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description In this study, acid-catalyzed conversions of three typical C6 sugar monomers/oligomers (glucose, maltose, and beta-cyclodextrins) to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran (THF) and toluene have been investigated over a solid acid catalyst Amberlyst 70 (A70), aiming to understand behaviors of the sugars in the solvents with distinct polarities. Molecular sizes of the sugars do not affect both insoluble polymer and levulinic acid formation in the same solvent, but levulinic acid yields vary significantly in the different solvents: In water > in THF with wet A70 > in THF with dried A70 ~ in toluene. This is due to the different ways of dispersion of the sugars, catalyst and products in the solvents. Sugars are well dispersed in water. Instead, in THF or toluene sugars dissolve in wet A70 that contains water (55 wt.%), which facilitates conversion of the sugars but promotes polymerization as well. In addition, the formation of insoluble polymer, soluble polymer and other products also varied a lot due to distinct polarities of the solvents.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2015
publisher Elsevier Ltd
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-210162017-09-13T15:58:24Z Acid-catalyzed conversion of C6 sugar monomer/oligomers to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran and toluene: Importance of the solvent polarity Hu, Xun Wang, S. Westerhof, Roel Wu, Liping Song, Yao Dong, Dehua Li, Chun-Zhu Levulinic acid Polymerization Solvent polarity C6 sugars Acid-catalyzed conversion In this study, acid-catalyzed conversions of three typical C6 sugar monomers/oligomers (glucose, maltose, and beta-cyclodextrins) to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran (THF) and toluene have been investigated over a solid acid catalyst Amberlyst 70 (A70), aiming to understand behaviors of the sugars in the solvents with distinct polarities. Molecular sizes of the sugars do not affect both insoluble polymer and levulinic acid formation in the same solvent, but levulinic acid yields vary significantly in the different solvents: In water > in THF with wet A70 > in THF with dried A70 ~ in toluene. This is due to the different ways of dispersion of the sugars, catalyst and products in the solvents. Sugars are well dispersed in water. Instead, in THF or toluene sugars dissolve in wet A70 that contains water (55 wt.%), which facilitates conversion of the sugars but promotes polymerization as well. In addition, the formation of insoluble polymer, soluble polymer and other products also varied a lot due to distinct polarities of the solvents. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21016 10.1016/j.fuel.2014.10.034 Elsevier Ltd restricted
spellingShingle Levulinic acid
Polymerization
Solvent polarity
C6 sugars
Acid-catalyzed conversion
Hu, Xun
Wang, S.
Westerhof, Roel
Wu, Liping
Song, Yao
Dong, Dehua
Li, Chun-Zhu
Acid-catalyzed conversion of C6 sugar monomer/oligomers to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran and toluene: Importance of the solvent polarity
title Acid-catalyzed conversion of C6 sugar monomer/oligomers to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran and toluene: Importance of the solvent polarity
title_full Acid-catalyzed conversion of C6 sugar monomer/oligomers to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran and toluene: Importance of the solvent polarity
title_fullStr Acid-catalyzed conversion of C6 sugar monomer/oligomers to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran and toluene: Importance of the solvent polarity
title_full_unstemmed Acid-catalyzed conversion of C6 sugar monomer/oligomers to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran and toluene: Importance of the solvent polarity
title_short Acid-catalyzed conversion of C6 sugar monomer/oligomers to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran and toluene: Importance of the solvent polarity
title_sort acid-catalyzed conversion of c6 sugar monomer/oligomers to levulinic acid in water, tetrahydrofuran and toluene: importance of the solvent polarity
topic Levulinic acid
Polymerization
Solvent polarity
C6 sugars
Acid-catalyzed conversion
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21016