One-pot cascade conversion of xylose to furfuryl alcohol over a bifunctional Cu/SBA-15-SO3H catalyst

The conversion of hemicellulose-derived xylose to furfuryl alcohol is a practical procedure for producing value-added chemicals from biomass. In this study, a bifunctional Cu/SBA-15-SO3H catalyst was employed for the one-pot catalytic conversion of xylose to furfuryl alcohol with a yield of up to 62.6% at the optimized conditions of 140 °C, 4 MPa, and for 6 h in a biphasic water/n-butanol solvent. A high reaction temperature resulted in further hydrogenation to 2-methyl furan, while a high hydrogen pressure led to a side hydrogenation reaction to xylitol. The biphasic solvent allowed xylose solvation as well as furfuryl product extraction. The acidic –SO3H sites and Cu sites co-existed, maintained a balance, and cooperatively catalyzed the cascade conversion. Excessive acidic sites and large pores could promote the xylose conversion, although a low furfuryl alcohol yield was obtained. This catalytic system could be potentially applied to the one-pot synthesis of furfuryl alcohol from hemicellulose-derived xylose.