<br/>Lignocellulose, the main component of agricultural and forestry waste, harbors great potential as a renewable starting material for future biorefinery practices. Herein we present a comprehensive catalytic strategy that is able to derive substantial value from all main lignocellulose constituents by sustainable catalytic conversion of these components to a range of attractive products. In the centre of our approach is the flexible use of copper doped porous metal oxide, a non-precious metal catalyst, in two distinct stages of a lignocellulose conversion process that enables integrated catalyst recycling through full conversion of all process residues. First, the valorization of the lignin part focuses on first obtaining well a defined aromatic alcohol that serves as platform chemical for accessing a range of value-added aromatics, including aromatic amines. Second, the cellulose rich residues are fully converted to aliphatic small molecules, enabling catalyst re-use. Convergent catalytic pathways were designed for the transformation of these mixtures of (mainly) aliphatic alcohols to alkanes, achieving excellent total carbon utilization. The overall approach seeks to maximize sustainability in the individual reaction steps through direct conversion of lignocellulose to alcohols that retain part of the inherent functionality of the renewable starting material and atom-economic transformations of these intermediates to obtain products with concrete valorization potential.<br/>

Complete conversion of lignocellulose with integrated catalyst recycling: sustainable pathways to valuable chemicals and fuels

255th National Meeting (2018)

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