Linked strategy for the production of fuels via formose reaction

Abstract

Formose reaction converts formaldehyde to carbohydrates. We found that formose reaction can be used linking the biomass gasification with the aqueous-phase processing (APP) to produce liquid transportation fuel in three steps. First, formaldehyde from syn-gas was converted to triose. This was followed by aldol condensation and dehydration to 4-hydroxymethylfurfural (4-HMF). Finally, 4-HMF was hydrogenated to produce 2,4-dimethylfuran (2,4-DMF) or C 9-C 15 branched-chain alkanes as liquid transportation fuels. In the linked strategy, high energy-consuming pretreatment as well as expensive and polluting hydrolysis of biomass were omitted, but the high energy recovery of APP was inherited. In addition, the hexoketoses via formose reaction could be converted to HMFs directly without isomerization. A potential platform molecule 4-HMF was formed simultaneously in APP.