利用空间位阻和氢溢流协同作用促进5-羟甲基糠醛选择性加氢制备5-甲基糠醛

化学工业生产中，用氢气为还原剂，通过选择性加氢可以制备多种重要化学品。5-羟甲基糠醛是重要的生物质基平台化合物，而5-甲基糠醛是用途广泛的化学品。由5-羟甲基糠醛加氢得到5-甲基糠醛是一条非常理想的路径，但是选择性活化C-OH非常困难。本文设计并制备了Pt@PVP/Nb₂O₅(PVP: 聚乙烯吡咯烷酮)催化剂，该催化体系巧妙地结合了位阻效应、氢溢流和催化剂界面的电子效应，系统研究了该催化剂对5-羟甲基糠醛选择性加氢制备5-甲基糠醛催化性能，在最优条件下，5-甲基糠醛的选择性可达92%。利用密度泛函理论计算研究了5-羟甲基糠醛选择性加氢制备5-甲基糠醛反应路径。     

γ-Valerolactone (GVL) as a green and efficient dipolar aprotic reaction medium

The great challenge for modern research is to define the most efficient tools to make more sustainable the industrial production and manufacturing. Among the different aspects that require attention the replacement of toxic and/or non-renewable solvents it is certainly playing a crucial role. Dealing with widely used dipolar aprotic solvents, among the different alternatives proposed in the literature γ-valerolactone (GVL) plays a pivotal role covering different application area. In this contribution, the benefits derived from the use of GVL as a circular, safe, biomass-derived reaction medium are highlighted covering most recent publications (2021). The presentation has been divided into three major sections: (i) biomass valorization, (ii) materials synthesis, manufacturing and recycle and (iii) new synthetic methodologies.     

复合酶耦合酶解酸处理后玉米秸秆的研究

以玉米秸秆为研究对象,经过2%硫酸预处理后,利用果胶酶、β-葡萄糖苷酶、纤维素酶三种酶协同酶解,以提高玉米秸秆的酶解产糖量。结果表明:当酶解时间为48h,果胶酶、β-葡萄糖苷酶、纤维素酶分别为45U/mL、30U/mL、60U/mL时,葡萄糖、木糖和酶水解得率分别为67.83%、3.25%、73.65%,相比纤维素酶单一酶解的葡萄糖、木糖和酶水解得率分别提高了65.04%、20.82%、65.06%。分步糖化发酵5天后,相比单一酶解发酵乙醇含量提高了72.5%。说明利用三种酶复合处理,能明显提高酶解产糖量。研究结果为玉米秸秆转化为可发酵糖技术的研究提供重要参考。     

Curing behavior and properties of high biosourced epoxy resin blends based on a triepoxy monomer and a tricarboxylic acid hardener from 10-undecenoic acid

Renewable propane-1,2,3-triyl tris(9-(oxiran-2-yl) nonanoate) (EGU, 100 wt% biogenic) and a tricarboxylic acid triglyceride (CGTU) hardener (85.7 wt% biogenic) were synthesized from 10-undecenoic acid (10-UDA) and used to produce epoxy resins with 52–92 wt% biobased carbon. CGTU was prepared by thermally activated thiol-ene coupling of thioglycolic acid onto propane-1,2,3-triyl tris(undec-10-enoate), (GUD) in the absence of solvent. The characterized CGTU was used as a green hardener of blends based on EGU and a conventional bisphenol A-based epoxy pre-polymer (DGEBA) at various mass percentages (0–100 wt%) with an stoichiometric epoxy/acid equivalent ratio. Calorimetric studies revealed higher peak temperature, lower reaction heats, and longer gelation times in resins with high EGU proportion, evidencing the lower reactivity of aliphatic EGU compared with aromatic DGEBA. Cured resins were yellowish transparent rubber-like materials with glass transition temperatures (Tg) varying from −14 °C to −42 °C and tensile strength in the range of 1750 kPa–790 kPa, for 0 and 100 wt % EGU, respectively. The soluble fraction of all resins was less than 4.3%, reflecting a high level of crosslinking. Thermosets with high biobased content showed both UV-light protection and visible light transparency.     

Efficient removal of MB dye using litchi leaves powder adsorbent: Isotherm and kinetic studies

Removal of Methylene Blue (MB) dye using Litchi Leaves Powder (LLP) material was carried out in batch mode. Effect of the mass of the adsorbent (0.1–2.5 g/L), pH of the solution (2−12), starting concentration of MB dye (50–150 mg/L), ionic strength using NaCl (0.1–0.5 M) as an electrolyte, contact time (0–60 min) on the adsorption of MB dye was studied. To calculate pH at which LLP material surface becomes neutral point of zero charge (pH_pzc) is also determined and found to be 6.48. Removal process best fit in the pseudo-second-order kinetic model as indicated by its higher R² value (0.999). Isotherm models (Freundlich and Langmuir) were fitted to the data obtained from the experiment to understand the adsorption behaviour. Result shows that experimental data were fitted to the both isotherm models (Freundlich and Langmuir) as indicated by higher R² value for both Freundlich (0.991) and Langmuir (0.994) model, and it was determined that LLP has a maximum adsorption capacity of 119.76 mg/g.     

利用空间位阻和氢溢流协同作用促进5-羟甲基糠醛选择性加氢制备5-甲基糠醛

Selective hydrogenation is a vital class of reaction. Various unsaturated functional groups in organic compounds, such as aromatic rings, alkynyl (C≡C), carbonyl (C＝O), nitro (-NO₂), and alkenyl (C＝C) groups, are typical targets in selective hydrogenation. Therefore, selectivity is a key indicator of the efficiency of a designed hydrogenation reaction. 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) is an important platform compound in the context of biomass conversion, and recently, the hydrogenation of HMF to produce fuels and other valuable chemicals has received significant attention. Controlling the selectivity of HMF hydrogenation is paramount because of the different reducible functional groups (C＝O, C-OH, and C＝C) in HMF. Moreover, the exploration of new routes for hydrogenating HMF to valuable chemicals is becoming attractive. 5-Methylfurfural (MF) is also an important organic compound; thus, the selective hydrogenation of HMF to MF is an essential synthetic route. However, this reaction has challenging thermodynamic and kinetic aspects, making it difficult to realize. Herein, we propose a strategy to design a highly efficient catalytic system for selective hydrogenation by exploiting the synergy between steric hindrance and hydrogen spillover. The design and preparation of the Pt@PVP/Nb₂O₅ catalyst (PVP = polyvinyl pyrrolidone; Nb₂O₅ = niobium(V) oxide) were also conducted. Surprisingly, HMF could be converted to MF with 92% selectivity at 100% HMF conversion. The reaction pathway was revealed through the combination of control experiments and density functional theory calculations. Although PVP blocked HMF from accessing the surface of Pt, hydrogen (H₂) could be activated on the surface of Pt due to its small molecular size, and the activated H₂ could migrate to the surface of Nb₂O₅ through a phenomenon called H₂ spillover. The Lewis acidic surface of Nb₂O₅ could not adsorb the C＝O group but could adsorb and activate the C-OH group of HMF; therefore, when HMF was adsorbed on Nb₂O₅, the C-OH groups were hydrogenated by the spilled over H₂ to form MF. The high selectivity of this reaction was realized because of the unique combination of steric effects, hydrogen spillover, and tuning of the electronic states of the Pt and Nb₂O₅ surfaces. This new route for producing MF has great potential for practical application owing to its discovered advantages. We believe that this novel strategy can be used to design catalysts for other selective hydrogenation reactions. Furthermore, this study demonstrates a significant breakthrough in selective hydrogenation, which will be of interest to researchers working on the utilization of biomass, organic synthesis, catalysis, and other related fields.      

Zn-Organic Batteries for the Semi-Hydrogenation of Biomass Aldehyde Derivatives and Concurrently Enhanced Power Output

Electricity generation and chemical productions are both critically important for the sustainable development of modern civilization. Here, a novel bifunctional Zn-organic battery has been established for the concurrent enhanced electricity output and semi-hydrogenations of a series of biomass aldehyderivatives, for the high value-added chemical syntheses. Among them, the typical Zn-furfural (FF) battery equipped with Cu foil-supported edge-enriched Cu nanosheets as cathodic electrocatalyst (Cu NS/Cu foil), provides a maximum current density and power density of 14.6 mA cm⁻² and 2.00 mW cm⁻², respectively, and in the meantime, produces high value product, furfural alcohol (FAL). The Cu NS/Cu foil catalyst exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance of ≈93.5 % conversion ratio and ≈93.1 % selectivity for FF semi-hydrogenation at a low potential of -1.1 V vs. Ag/AgCl by using H₂O as H source, and shows impressive performance for various biomass aldehyderivatives semi-hydrogenation.     

Integrated Tandem Electrochemical-chemical-electrochemical Coupling of Biomass and Nitrate to Sustainable Alanine

Alanine is widely employed for synthesizing polymers, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals. Electrocatalytic coupling of biomass molecules and waste nitrate is attractive for the nitrate removal and alanine production under ambient conditions. However, the reaction efficiency is relatively low due to the activation of the stable substrates, and the coupling of two reactive intermediates remains challenging. Herein, we realize the integrated tandem electrochemical-chemical-electochemical synthesis of alanine from the biomass-derived pyruvic acid (PA) and waste nitrate (NO₃⁻) catalyzed by PdCu nano-bead-wires (PdCu NBWs). The overall reaction pathway is demonstrated as a multiple-step catalytic cascade process via coupling the reactive intermediates NH₂OH and PA on the catalyst surface. Interestingly, in this integrated tandem electrochemical-chemical-electrochemical catalytic cascade process, Cu facilitates the electrochemical reduction of nitrate to NH₂OH intermediates, which chemically couple with PA to form the pyruvic oxime, and Pd promotes the electrochemical reduction of pyruvic oxime to the desirable alanine. This work provides a green strategy to convert waste NO₃⁻ to wealth and enriches the substrate scope of renewable biomass feedstocks to produce high-value amino acids.     

双功能[Sn,Al]-Beta分子筛一步催化葡萄糖生成5-羟甲基糠醛

以部分脱铝的Beta分子筛为母体,采用同晶置换法将Sn植入骨架制备双功能[Sn,Al]-Beta分子筛,并应用于葡萄糖一步催化生成5-羟甲基糠醛(5-HMF)反应中.样品中Sn与Al的含量通过酸洗的浓度和酸洗的时间以及SnCl4处理的时间来控制.由于骨架中有与Al相关为B酸位,和Sn相关的L酸位,[Sn,Al]-Beta可作为一种双功能的固体酸催化剂.优化了[Sn,Al]-Beta催化葡萄糖一步催化生成5-HMF的反应参数,在最优Sn/Al比条件下,葡萄糖转化率为60.0%,5-HMF选择性为62.1%.