One-pot aqueous-phase conversion of biomass into furfural catalyzed by supported heteropolyacids with the addition of LiBr

Catalytic conversion of waste biomass to furfural (FF) is an important valorization of lignocellulose. Heteropolyacid catalysts were designed for efficient aqueous-phase dehydration of saccharides by supporting phosphotungstic acid (H3PW12O40, abbreviated as PW12) on H-ZSM-5 zeolite at different loadings (xPW12/ZSM-5, x = 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%). The PW12/ZSM-5 was used in the one-pot conversion of biomass (xylose, xylan, and corn stover) to FF in LiBr aqueous solution. The low PW12 loading catalyst (10%PW12/ZSM-5) could efficiently convert biomass to FF with the yields of 73.3% (xylose) and 75.1% (xylan) at moderate temperature (130 °C), respectively. The PW12 loading and acid sites distribution were crucial to the catalytic performance. Moreover, LiBr enhanced the yield of FF because of its Lewis acidity. The PW12/ZSM-5 based solid polyacid was a promising catalyst for the efficient FF production from biomass with high yield and easy separation.