Production of Furan Compounds from Rice Straw with Ionic Liquid Treatment

Abstract

Furan compounds such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural are valuable platform chemicals produced from lignocellulosics that can be used to produce polymers or liquid biofuels. In recent years, formation of furan compounds from glucose or xylose in ionic liquids has been studied. In this study, production of furan compounds from rice straw in various ionic liquids was conducted. 1-Methylimidazolium hydrogensulfate ([MIM]HSO4) was found to be the most effective ionic liquid. Yields of 7.9 wt% of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 4.3 wt% of furfural were achieved at 160 °C and 1 wt% rice straw loading in [MIM]HSO4. It is also found that pretreatment with an ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate effectively enhanced the yield of furan compounds from rice straw by [MIM]HSO4treatment.