(275b) One-Pot Production of Furans from Industrial Hemp

Industrial hemp, a variety of Cannabis sativa and the same plant species as marijuana, is primarily grown for its high-quality fibers from bast and high-value Cannabidiol (CBD) oil from flowers and leaves. The inner core of the hemp plant stem, hemp hurd, is considered as cellulosic waste. The use of industrial hemp hurds for the production of 5-hyroxylmethyl furfural (HMF), a versatile platform chemical will bring benefits including: (1) revenues to farmers; (2) reduction of CO2 emission from the disposal of hemp hurds by landfilling and combustion; and (3) new technologies for conversion of lignocellulose. Herein, we have developed the one-pot conversion of hemp hurds into HMF using the imidazolium-based ionic liquid. Central Composite Design (CCD) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) were used to design and optimize three processing parameters: reaction temperature (120-160°C), reaction time (1-4h), and solid loading (5-30 wt.%). We found that sugar release is sensitive to a change in temperature. Under the optimal saccharification condition, ~60 mol% of HMF was achieved from glucose dehydration. To understand the underlying physicochemical characteristics of hemp hurds that affect their hydrolysis, hemp hurds before and after dissolution in ionic liquid were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), 2D Heteronuclear Single-Quantum Correlation (HSQC) NMR, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).