Recent advances in heterogeneous catalytic conversion of glucose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural via green routes

With concerns of diminishing fossil fuel reserves and environmental deterioration, great efforts have been made to explore novel approaches of efficiently utilizing bio-renewable feedstocks to produce chemicals and fuels. 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural(HMF),generated from dehydration of six-carbon ketose, is regarded as a primary and versatile renewable building block to realize the goal of production of these high valued products from renewable biomass resources transformation. In this review, we summarize the recent advances via green routes in the heterogeneous reaction system for the catalytic production of HMF from glucose conversion, and emphasize reaction pathways of these reaction approaches based on the fundamental mechanistic chemistry as well as highlight the challenges(such as separation and purification of products, reusing and regeneration of catalyst, recycling solvent) in this field.     

Products and production routes for the catalytic conversion of seed oil into fuel and chemicals: a comprehensive review

With the depletion of fossil resources, there is a need to find alternative resources of fuels and chemicals. The use of renewable feedstock such as those from seed oil processing is one of the best available resources that have come to the fore-front recently. This paper critically analyzes and highlights major factors in the biodiesel industry, such as seeds oil composition, production methods, properties of biodiesel, problems and potential solutions of using vegetable seed oil, the composition, quality and effective utilization of crude glycerol, the catalytic conversion of glycerol into possible fuels and chemicals.     

生物质利用新途径:多元醇催化合成可再生燃料和化学品

日益严重的全球性能源和环境问题促使开发利用可再生的生物质资源成为当前研究的一个热点。本文概述了生物质基多元醇合成燃料和化学品来实现生物质转化利用的一些最新进展,特别是集中介绍了甘油和山梨醇等多元醇催化水相重整合成氢气和液体烃等燃料、催化选择氢解和氧化合成高附加值化学品或化学中间体等方面的进展,分析了存在的问题和可能的解决措施以及今后的发展趋势,指出生物质基多元醇将成为今后合成可再生燃料和化学品的新型平台分子。     

生物质利用新途径:多元醇催化合成可再生燃料和化学品

日益严重的全球性能源和环境问题促使开发利用可再生的生物质资源成为当前研究的一个热点.本文概述了生物质基多元醇合成燃料和化学品来实现生物质转化利用的一些最新进展,特别是集中介绍了甘油和山梨醇等多元醇催化水相重整合成氢气和液体烃等燃料、催化选择氢解和氧化合成高附加值化学品或化学中间体等方面的进展,分析了存在的问题和可能的解决措施以及今后的发展趋势,指出生物质基多元醇将成为今后合成可再生燃料和化学品的新型平台分子.     

呋喃类平台化合物催化转化成可再生化学品和燃料

正随着石油资源的相对贫乏和环境问题的加剧,寻求新的能源和途径来代替传统的化石资源越来越受到人们的关注.生物质在地球上含量丰富、分布广泛、价格较低廉且能够很好的实现碳循环,作为一种可持续和可再生资源,在取代传统的石油产品方面具有很大的潜力,能很好满足社会对燃料和化学品的需求,从而实现由不可再生的石油资源向可再生的生物能源的过渡.植物类生物质的主要成分是碳水化合物即纤维素和木质素,在一定条件下可     

面向氢能源、燃料电池和二氧化碳减排的制氢途径的选择

对氢气的多种制造途径加以探讨,也涉及到氢能的利用、燃料电池以及二氧化碳的减排。需要指出的是氢气并非能源,而只是能量的载体。 所以氢能的发展首先需要制造氢气。对于以化石燃料为基础的制氢过程,如煤的气化和天然气重整,需要开发更经济和环境友好的新过程,在这些新过程中要同时考虑二氧化碳的有效收集和利用问题。对于煤和生物质,在此提出了一种值得进一步深入研究的富一氧化碳气化制氢的概念。对于以氢为原料的质子交换膜燃料电池系统,必须严格控制制备的氢气中的一氧化碳和硫化氢;对于以烃类为原料的固体氧化物燃料电池,制备的合成气中的硫也需严格控制。然而,传统的脱硫方法并不适宜于这种用于燃料电池的极高深度的氢气和合成气的脱硫。氢能和燃料电池的发展是与控制二氧化碳排放紧密相关的。     

Biofuels and biomass-to-liquid fuels in the biorefinery: catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass using porous materials

At a time when the focus is on global warming, CO(2) emission, secure energy supply, and less consumption of fossil-based fuels, the use of renewable energy resources is essential. Various biomass resources are discussed that can deliver fuels, chemicals, and energy products. The focus is on the catalytic conversion of biomass from wood. The challenges involved in the processing of lignocellulose-rich materials will be highlighted, along with the application of porous materials as catalysts for the biomass-to-liquids (BTL) fuels in biorefineries. The mechanistic understanding of the complex reactions that take place, the development of catalysts and processes, and the product spectrum that is envisaged will be discussed, along with a sustainable concept for biorefineries based on lignocellulose. Finally, the current situation with respect to upgrading of the process technology (pilot and commercial units) will be addressed.     

Conversion of biomass to selected chemical products

This critical review provides a survey illustrated by recent references of different strategies to achieve a sustainable conversion of biomass to bioproducts. Because of the huge number of chemical products that can be potentially manufactured, a selection of starting materials and targeted chemicals has been done. Also, thermochemical conversion processes such as biomass pyrolysis or gasification as well as the synthesis of biofuels were not considered. The synthesis of chemicals by conversion of platform molecules obtained by depolymerisation and fermentation of biopolymers is presently the most widely envisioned approach. Successful catalytic conversion of these building blocks into intermediates, specialties and fine chemicals will be examined. However, the platform molecule value chain is in competition with well-optimised, cost-effective synthesis routes from fossil resources to produce chemicals that have already a market. The literature covering alternative value chains whereby biopolymers are converted in one or few steps to functional materials will be analysed. This approach which does not require the use of isolated, pure chemicals is well adapted to produce high tonnage products, such as paper additives, paints, resins, foams, surfactants, lubricants, and plasticisers. Another objective of the review was to examine critically the green character of conversion processes because using renewables as raw materials does not exempt from abiding by green chemistry principles (368 references).     

Rapeseed oil methyl ester pyrolysis: on-line product analysis using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

Thermochemical conversion processes play a crucial role in all routes from fossil and renewable resources to base chemicals, fuels and energy. Hence, a fundamental understanding of these chemical processes can help to resolve the upcoming challenges of our society. A bench scale pyrolysis set-up has been used to study the thermochemical conversion of rapeseed oil methyl ester (RME), i.e. a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters. A GC×GC, equipped with both a flame ionization detector (FID) and a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS), allows quantitative and qualitative characterization of the reactor feed and product. Analysis of the latter is accomplished using a dedicated high temperature on-line sampling system. Temperature programmed analysis, starting at -40°C, permits effluent characterization from methane up to lignoceric acid methyl ester (C(25)H(50)O(2)), in a single run of the GC×GC. The latter combines a 100% dimethylpolysiloxane primary column with a 50% phenyl polysilphenylene-siloxane secondary column. Modulation is started when the oven temperature reaches 40°C, thus dividing the chromatogram in a conventional 1D and a comprehensive 2D part. The proposed quantification approach allows to combine the quantitative GC×GC analysis with 2 other on-line 1D GC analyses, resulting in a complete and detailed product composition including the measurement of CO, CO(2), formaldehyde and water. The GC×GC reveals that the product stream contains a huge variety of valuable products, such as linear alpha olefins, unsaturated esters and aromatics, that could not have been identified and quantified accurately with conventional 1D GC because of peak overlap.     

Recent advances in understanding the key catalyst factors for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Catalytic conversion of synthesis gas (CO+H₂) into hydrocarbons, also known as Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, is a crucial reaction for the transformation of non-petroleum carbon resources such as coal, natural gas, shale gas, coal-bed gas and biogas, as well as biomass into liquid fuels and chemicals. Many factors can influence the catalytic behavior of a FT catalyst. This review highlights recent advances in understanding some key catalyst factors, including the chemical state of active phases, the promoters, the size and the microenvironment of active phase, which determine the CO conversion activity and the product selectivity, particularly the selectivity to C₅₊ hydrocarbons.     

乳酸酯氧化脱氢制备丙酮酸酯的研究进展

生物质资源替代化石资源制取燃料和化学品已成为发展可再生能源化工的重要研究方向之一。本文综述了近年来以生物质平台分子乳酸酯为原料制备丙酮酸酯的研究工作,主要涉及的反应包括气相催化反应、液相催化反应和光催化反应。详细讨论了各种类型的催化剂对反应性能的影响;最后,对乳酸酯催化转化制取丙酮酸酯的发展前景进行了展望。     

甲烷/甲醇光催化转化研究进展

在能源需求不断上涨及石油供应日益紧张的背景下,开展对煤、天然气或生物质等非油基资源(CO、CO_2、CH_3OH、CH_4等)的高效利用显得尤为重要。C_1小分子(CO、CO_2、CH_3OH、CH_4等)经催化转化可得到燃料及多种化学品,一直受到学术界及工业界的广泛关注。甲烷/甲醇作为重要的C_1平台分子,其催化转化在C_1化学中占据重要地位。为了提高目标产物的选择性,需要有效地控制甲烷/甲醇中C―H键的活化。传统热催化作为甲烷/甲醇最常见的转化方法发展已久,但仍然面临着反应条件苛刻、能耗大、产率和选择性低等问题。光催化反应通过引入光能弥补反应中吉布斯自由能的上升,同时具有反应条件温和、操作简单、能耗低等特点,从而为甲烷/甲醇转化提供了新的途径。通过调节光的波长、强度以及催化剂的氧化能力可以实现甲烷/甲醇的选择性转化,减少副产物的生成。此外,光催化能够选择性活化甲醇的C―H键而非O―H键,从而实现甲醇的C―C偶联反应。本文主要围绕甲烷/甲醇的重整、氧化和偶联反应,总结近年来的光催化转化进展,并对进一步提高光催化性能做了展望。     

Development of High Performance Heterogeneous Catalysts for Selective Cleavage of C−O and C−C Bonds of Biomass‐Derived Oxygenates

The environmental impact of CO₂ emissions via the use of fossil resources as chemical feedstock and fuels has stimulated research to utilize renewable biomass feedstock. The biogenic compounds such as polyols are highly oxygenated and their valorization requires the new methods to control the oxygen to carbon ratio of the chemicals. The catalytic cleavage of C?O bonds and C?C bonds is promising methods, but the conventional catalyst systems encounter the difficulty to obtain the high yields of the desired products. This review describes our recent development of the high performance heterogeneous catalysts for the valorization of the biogenic chemicals such as glycerol, furfural, and levulinic acid via selective cleavage of C?O bonds and C?C bonds in the liquid‐phase. Selective C?O bond cleavage by hydrogenolysis enables production of various diols useful as engineering plastics, antifreeze, and cosmetics in high yields. The success of the selective C?C bond scission of levulinic acid can be applied to a wide range of the biogenic oxygenates such as carboxylic acids, esters, lactones, and primary alcohols, in which the selective C?C bond scission at adjacent to the oxygen functional groups are achieved. Furthermore, valorization of glycerol by selective acetylation and acetalization, and of levulinic acid by hydrogenation is described. Our catalysts show excellent performance compared to the reported catalysts in the aforementioned valorization.     

Polyoxometalates as efficient catalysts for transformations of cellulose into platform chemicals

Efficient utilisation of renewable biomass resources, particularly lignocellulosic biomass, for the production of chemicals and fuels has attracted much attention in recent years. The catalytic conversion of cellulose, the main component of lignocellulosic biomass, selectively into a platform chemical such as glucose, 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF), sorbitol or gluconic acid under mild conditions is the most desirable route. Acid catalysis plays a crucial role in the conversion of cellulose via the cleavage of its glycosidic bonds. Owing to their unique features such as strong acidity, water-tolerance, low corrosiveness and recoverability, polyoxometalates have shown promising performances in transformations of cellulose into platform chemicals both in homogeneous and heterogeneous systems. This article highlights recent studies on polyoxometalates and polyoxometalate-based bifunctional catalysts or catalytic systems for the selective conversions of cellulose and cellobiose, a model molecule of cellulose, into platform chemicals.     

Thermal processing of algal biomass for biofuel production

Concerns over the environment and energy security have led to considerable research efforts into the development of renewable alternatives to fossil-based fuels and chemical from biomass. Algae has been identified as the biomass with great potential for utilization in this regard, due to several advantages algae has over terrestrial plants, such as a higher growth rate and photosynthetic efficiency, better CO₂ sequestration, and the ability to grow in non-arable land with low quality water. Conversion technologies, particularly thermochemical conversion, are actively being researched and developed to produce renewable chemicals and fuels. A major advance in this regard is thermal conversion of whole algal biomass, especially wet processing that can significantly reduce the cost of production. This short review looks at major developments in thermal processing of algal biomass with primary focus on the past two years.     

过渡金属催化CO2/H2参与的羰基化研究进展

Ever-increasing energy demands due to rapid industrialization and urban population growth have drastically reduced petroleum reserves and increased greenhouse-gas production, and the latter has consequently contributed to climate change and environmental damage. Therefore, it is highly desirable to produce fuels and chemicals from non-petroleum feedstocks and to reduce the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. One solution has involved using carbon dioxide (CO₂), a main greenhouse gas, as a C1 feedstock for producing industrial fuels and chemicals. However, this requires high energy input from reductants or reactants with relatively high free energy (e.g., H₂ gas) because CO₂ is a highly oxidized, thermodynamically stable form of carbon. H₂ can be generated through water photolysis, making it an ideal reductant for hydrogenating CO₂ to CO. In situ generation of CO such as this has been developed for various carbonylation reactions that produce high value-added chemicals and avoid deriving CO from fossil fuels. This is beneficial because CO is toxic, and when extracted from fossil fuels it requires tedious separation and transportation. This combination of CO₂ and H₂ allows for functional molecules to be synthesized as entries into the chemical industry value chain and would generate a carbon footprint much lower than that of conventional petrochemical pathways. Based on this, CO₂/H₂ carbonylations using homogeneous transition metal-based catalysts have attracted increasing attention. Through this process, alkenes have been converted to alcohols, carboxylic acids, amines, and aldehydes. Heterogeneous catalysis has also provided an innovative approach for the carbonylation of alkenes with CO₂/H₂. Based on these alkene carbonylations, the scope of CO₂/H₂ carbonylations has been expanded to include aryl halides, methanol, and methanol derivatives, which give the corresponding aryl aldehyde, acetic acid, and ethanol products. These carbonylations revealed indirect CO₂-HCOOH-CO pathways and direct CO₂ insertion pathways. The use of this process is ever-increasing and has expanded the scope of CO₂ utilization to produce novel, high value-added or bulk chemicals, and has promoted sustainable chemistry. This review summarizes the recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed carbonylations with CO₂/H₂ and discusses the perspectives and challenges of further research.     

复合金属氧化物催化剂用于甘油氧化制丙烯酸的研究进展

随着化石燃料的短缺及其利用所产生的环境问题,可再生生物质资源逐渐成为生产燃料以及化学品的重要来源。近年来,甘油作为生物柴油生产的主要副产物受到了人们的广泛关注,利用其生产高附加值产品以及开发相关的转化技术也成为了国内外学者研究的热点。在诸多转化技术中,甘油选择性氧化制丙烯酸展现出了广阔的发展前景,对该反应尤其是催化剂开展研究具有重要的经济意义和社会意义。文中综述了用于甘油选择性氧化制丙烯酸复合金属氧化物催化剂的研究现状,介绍了当前用于该反应的催化体系类型以及对甘油氧化制丙烯酸催化反应机理的认识,分析并提出了存在的问题以及对未来的展望。     

Thermal analysis/mass spectrometry using soft photo-ionisation for the investigation of biomass and mineral oils

The combined analytical methods of thermal analysis and mass spectrometry have been applied in form of a newly developed prototype of a thermogravimetry — single photon ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometer coupling (TG-SPI-TOFMS) to investigate the molecular patterns of evolved gases from several biomass samples as well as a crude oil sample. Single photon ionization (SPI) was conducted by means of a novel electron beam pumped argon excimer lamp (EBEL) as photon source. With SPI-TOFMS various lignin decomposition products such as guaiacol, syringol and coniferyl alcohol could be monitored. Furthermore, SPI allows the detection of aliphatic hydrocarbons, mainly alkenes, carbonylic compounds such as acetone, and furan derivatives such as furfuryl alcohol and hydroxymethylfurfural. More alkaline biomass such as coarse colza meal show intense signals from nitrogen containing substances such as (iso-)propylamine and pyrrole. Thermal degradation of crude oil takes place in two steps, evaporation of volatile components and pyrolysis of larger molecular structures at higher temperatures. Due to the soft ionisation, homologue rows of alkanes and alkenes could be detected on basis of their molecular ions. The obtained information from the thermal analysis/photo ionisation mass spectrometry experiments can be drawn on in comparison to the investigation of the primary products from flash pyrolysis of biomass for production of biofuels and chemicals.     

Deoxygenation of biomass-derived feedstocks: oxorhenium-catalyzed deoxydehydration of sugars and sugar alcohols

Turn sugar into oil: The deoxygenation reaction of sugar moieties is important for the conversion of biomass into chemicals and fuels. The methyltrioxorhenium-catalyzed deoxydehydration reaction was successfully applied to this purpose using another alcohol as solvent/reductant. The reaction was highly stereospecific, affording linear polyene products from C(4) -C(6) sugar alcohols and aromatic compounds from C(4) -C(6) sugars.     

木质生物质转化高附加值化学品

本文阐述了木质生物质转化为主要化学品的类型及其转化途径,提出了从木质生物质转化高附加值化学品的新思路.木质生物质通过一定的降解或分解途径,可产生很多有重要价值的有机小分子化合物,这些有机小分子化合物有葡萄糖、木糖、苯丙烷单体及二聚体,气态小分子如CH4和CO,液态小分子如有机酸、醛、醇,重要基础平台化合物糠醛、乙酰丙酸、木糖醇、乙醇等.通过这些小分子有机化合物的转化,可产生替代石油基产品的高附加值化学品,对可持续发展具有重要意义.