In this talk, an overview of the research related to the activities of the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation (CCEI) related to the conversion of C6 and C5 sugars to furans will be given. Our activities toward the design and testing of novel catalytic materials, and their reaction performance will be presented and will be related to the process economics. Furthermore, our progress to reveal the underlying catalytic mechanisms will be reviewed. Emphasis will be placed on the recent developments in the C5 chemistry (xylose to xylulose isomerization followed by dehydration to furfural) using Sn-BEA zeolite and on the understanding of solvation of sugars and furans, such as fructose and HMF in different solvents.

Modern catalytic technologies for converting biomass derived sugars to chemicals: An overview of the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation

244th National Meeting (2012)

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