Catalytic Air Oxidation of Biomass‐Derived Carbohydrates to Formic Acid

An efficient catalytic system for biomass oxidation to form formic acid was developed. The conversion of glucose to formic acid can reach up to 52% yield within 3 h when catalyzed by 5 mol% of H(5)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40) at only 373 K using air as the oxidant. Furthermore, the heteropolyacid can be used as a bifunctional catalyst in the conversion of cellulose to formic acid (yield=35%) with air as the oxidant.