Furfural as a platform chemical

With the rise in global energy demand and environmental awareness, the need to replace fossil fuels with renewable alternatives is now acknowledged. Among several products that can be obtained from lignocellulose biomass, furfural is one of the members of the furanics class, which also encompasses a group of molecules that include 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, and 2,5-dimethylfuran. Furfural can undergo several reactions and can give a variety of valuable products due to the presence of the aldehyde group and conjugated system of double bounds in its structure. Furfural is a natural precursor to furan-based chemicals and a major chemical for the production of biofuels and biochemicals. This chapter provides a comprehensive review of the past and present selected relevant commercial and academic technologies that enhance the production of furfural from lignocellulose biomass. It also looks at the production mechanisms to coproduce furfural with other important chemicals, highlighting its chemical properties that enable its utilization in different industrial applications of economic interest. Furfural and its catalytic products also present effective technologies that could increase furfural production yields.