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 (H 3 PW 12 O 40 , abbreviated as PW 12 ) on H-ZSM-5 zeolite at different loadings (xPW 12 /ZSM-5, x = 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%). The PW 12 /ZSM-5 was used in the one-pot conversion of biomass (xylose, xylan , and corn stover) to FF in LiBr aqueous solution. The low PW 12 loading catalyst (10%PW 12 /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 PW 12 loading and acid sites distribution were crucial to the catalytic performance. Moreover, LiBr enhanced the yield of FF because of its Lewis acidity. The PW 12 /ZSM-5 based solid polyacid was a promising catalyst for the efficient FF production from biomass with high yield and easy separation.