A divergent approach for the synthesis of (hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) from spent aromatic biomass-derived (chloromethyl)furfural (CMF) as a renewable feedstock.

ABSTRACT: Extraction of commercial essential oil from several aromatic species belonging to the genus Cymbopogon results in the accumulation of huge spent aromatic waste which does not have high value application; instead, the majority is burned or disposed of to vacate fields. Open burning of spent aromatic biomass causes deterioration of the surrounding air quality. Therefore, a new protocol has been developed for chemical processing of spent biomass to obtain 5-(chloromethyl)furfural (CMF) with high selectivity (∼80%) and yields (∼26 wt% or ∼76 mol% with respect to pre-treated biomass) via refluxing in aqueous HCl in the presence of NaCl as a cheap catalyst. No black tar formation and gasification were observed in the processing of the spent aromatic biomass. Spent aromatic waste-derived CMF was further converted to 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) in good yields by a novel one pot method using iodosylbenzene (PhIO) as a reagent under mild reaction conditions.

SUBMITTER: Singh M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9058557 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature