Production of a high molecular weight jet-fuel precursor from biomass derived furfural and 2-methylfuran using propyl sulfonic SBA-15 catalysts

An effective catalyst for the production of branched chain fuel precursors with 15 carbon atoms (C15) from low carbon number, biomass-derived molecules is reported in this work. It shows that SBA-15 silica with the incorporation of sulfonic groups (S15) is highly active and selective for C-C coupling at low temperature, without solvent and under simple reaction conditions, giving a C15 condensation product with high selectivity, greater than 95 %, via hydroxyalkylation/alkylation (HAA) of 2-methylfuran (2-MF) with furfural (FAL). As water was determined to have a great negative influence on the stability of these catalysts, synthesis modifications and various post-synthesis treatments were tested to improve yield of C15. As a result, it was possible to improve up to 12 % the efficiency of the reaction by incorporating hydrophobic groups in the synthesis of sulfonic SBA-15 by co-condensation. This catalyst can be recovered and recycled, preserving its stability over multiple reaction cycles.