Hydriodic acid (HI) is a highly selective reducing reagent for a wide variety of substrates. Its application was limited by iodine (I2) formation and the difficulty in reconverting I2 back to HI in situ. Here we report the facile conversion of I2 to HI by metal-catalyzed hydrogenation in the presence of water. We have also demonstrated the utility of this process in the conversion of various biomass derived carbohydrates to useful chemicals, such as the conversion of fructose to methylfurfural and glycerol to propene.

Hydriodic acid catalyzed slective biomass conversion

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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