(77f) Kinetics of Fructose Decomposition Catalyzed by Organic Acids in High Temperature Liquid Water

Biomass continues to be an important candidate as a renewable resource for energy, chemicals, and feedstock. Decomposition of biomass in high temperature liquid water is a promising technique for producing industrially important chemicals such as 5-hydromethylfurfural (5-HMF), furfural, levulinic acid (LA) with high efficiency. To further improve reaction rate and selectivity of the reactions, the kinetics of fructose decomposition catalyzed by organic acids in high temperature liquid water was studied at temperatures from 453.15K to 493.15K and pressure of 10MPa. The results show that the reaction rate is greatly enhanced with the addition of organic acids, especially formic acid. The effects of temperature, residence time, organic acids and their concentrations on the yields of 5-HMF and LA were shown. Interestingly, a yield of as high as 83% for 5-HMF can be achieved from fructose decomposition catalyzed by acetic acid. Fructose decomposition consists of two sequential reactions, first from fructose to 5-HMF, then from 5-HMF to LA. Based on the products profile, we speculate that acetic acid promotes the first step while has little influence on the second step. In contrast, both steps are accelerated by formic acid.