Chemoenzymatic Conversion of Biomass-Derived D-Xylose to Furfuryl Alcoholwith Corn Stalk-Based Solid Acid Catalyst and Reductase Biocatalyst in aDeep Eutectic Solvent–Water System

Abstract

In this work, the feasibility of chemoenzymatically transforming biomass-derived D-xylose to furfuryl alcohol was demonstrated in a tandem reaction with SO42-/SnO2-CS chemocatalyst and reductase biocatalyst in the deep eutectic solvent (DES)–water media. The high furfural yield (44.6%) was obtained by catalyzing biomass-derived D-xylose (75.0 g/L) in 20 min at 185 °C with SO42-/SnO2-CS (1.2 wt%) in DES ChCl:EG–water (5:95, v/v). Subsequently, recombinant E. coli CF cells harboring reductases transformed D-xylose-derived furfural (200.0 mM) to furfuryl alcohol in the yield of 35.7% (based on D-xylose) at 35 °C and pH 7.5 using HCOONa as cosubstrate in ChCl:EG–water. This chemoenzymatic cascade catalysis strategy could be employed for the sustainable production of value-added furan-based chemical from renewable bioresource.