title: Gluconic acid from biomass fast pyrolysis oils: specialty chemicals from the thermochemical conversion of biomass.
abstract: Fast pyrolysis of biomass to produce a bio-oil followed by catalytic upgrading is a widely studied approach for the potential production of fuels from biomass. Because of the complexity of the bio-oil, most upgrading strategies focus on removing oxygen from the entire mixture to produce fuels. Here we report a novel method for the production of the specialty chemical, gluconic acid, from the pyrolysis of biomass. Through a combination of sequential condensation of pyrolysis vapors and water extraction, a solution rich in levoglucosan is obtained that accounts for over 30% of the carbon in the bio-oil produced from red oak. A simple filtration step yields a stream of high-purity levoglucosan. This stream of levoglucosan is then hydrolyzed and partially oxidized to yield gluconic acid with high purity and selectivity. This combination of cost-effective pyrolysis coupled with simple separation and upgrading could enable a variety of new product markets for chemicals from biomass.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, University of Oklahoma, 100 E. Boyd Street, Room T301 Norman, OK 73019 (USA).
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Santhanaraj
authors.forename: Marjorie R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Rover
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Resasco
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Crossley
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D005942:Gluconates / Q000737:chemistry*; D005947:Glucose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006868:Hydrolysis; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D029963:Quercus
chemical_list: D005942:Gluconates; D010938:Plant Oils; C014989:1,6-anhydro-beta-glucopyranose; D005947:Glucose; C030691:gluconic acid
keywords: biomass; gluconic acid; heterogeneous catalysis; oxidation; pyrolysis