RSC Advances
Paper
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4. Conclusions
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11 J. J. Bozell, Science, 2010, 329, 522–523.
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Overall, we have reported the integrated conversion of ligno-
cellulosic biomass to levulinic acid in a biphasic system con-
sisting of THF and NaCl aqueous solution. The one-step
hydrolysis of C6 and C5 carbohydrates in the lignocellulosic
biomass was rstly achieved to give a product solution that
contained furfural, formic acid, levulinic acid and lignin, and
the hydrolysis process was operated with both model substrates
and biomass raw materials. The yields of the hydrolysis prod-
ucts are comparable to values obtained in the literature using a
mixed solvent of GVL and water. In contrast to processes using
the high boiling point solvent GVL, the utilization of THF
allowed a one-step distillation of the product solution into three
fractions: furfural and formic acid; levulinic acid; lignin. This
separation step rstly removed the solid residue from the
desired product effectively, and then let us investigate the
hydrogenation of furfural with by-product formic acid without
any interference. The hydrogenation process was eventually
achieved and the product furfuryl alcohol was nally hydrolyzed
to levulinic acid to achieve the integrated conversion of ligno-
cellulosic biomass to levulinic acid. The highest mass yield of
levulinic acid was 27.7%, which was promoted by 68.9% with
the additional conversion of the hemicellulose fraction. Thus,
the utilization of a lower boiling point solvent, THF, not only
achieves the simultaneous hydrolysis of C6 and C5 carbohy-
drates in lignocellulosic biomass, but as compared to GVL, it
also offers an alternative operation procedure for the integrated
conversion of biomass to levulinic acid.
15 A. S. Mamman, J. M. Lee, Y. C. Kim, I. T. Hwang, N. J. Park,
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M. S. Sen, E. I. Gurbuz, S. G. Wettstein, D. M. Alonso,
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17 (a) D. M. Alonso, S. G. Wettstein, M. A. Mellmer,
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the National Basic Research Program
of China (2012CB215305, 2013CB228103), NSFC (21325208,
21361140372, 21172209), FRFCU (WK2060190025), SRFDP
(20123402130008), CAS (KJCX2-EW-J02) and Fok Ying Tung
Education Foundation for nancial support.
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