title: Chemo-selective high yield microwave assisted reaction turns cellulose to green chemicals.
abstract: Exceptionally high cellulose liquefaction yields, up to 87% as calculated from the amount of solid residue, were obtained under mild conditions by utilizing the synergistic effect of microwave radiation and acid catalysis. The effect of processing conditions on degradation products was fingerprinted by rapid laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) method. The reaction was chemo-tunable, enabling production of glucose (Glc) or levulinic acid (LeA) at significantly high selectivity and yields, the relative molar yields being up to 50 and 69%, respectively. A turning point from pure depolymerization to glucose to further degradation to levulinic acid and formic acid was observed at approximately 50% liquefaction or above 140 °C. This was accompanied by the formation of small amounts of solid spherical carbonized residues. The reaction was monitored by multiple analytical techniques. The high yields were connected to the ability of the process to break the strong secondary interactions in cellulose. The developed method has great potential for future production of green platform chemicals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: salmanha@kth.se.
authors.forename: Salman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hassanzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: ninaam@kth.se.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aminlashgari
authors.affiliation: Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: minna@kth.se.
authors.forename: Minna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hakkarainen
keywords: Carbon sphere; Cellulose; Glucose; Hydrothermal degradation; Levulinic acid; Liquefaction