Synthesis of Furfural from Water Hyacinth (Eichornia croassipes)

Abstract

Furfural has been prepared from hydrolysis of dried biomass of water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) by using diluted hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid as catalysts. This process involved the conversion of the pentosane fraction in water hyacinth into pentose, and then pentose was cyclodehydrated into furfural. The reaction was conducted in a distillation set with receiving the flask that contains chloroform. Furfural was identified by fehling test which was then characterized using Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) and Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR), followed by Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS). The yield of furfural obtained using sulphuric acid catalyst was 0.38% and hydrochloric acid catalyst was 0.01% of dried biomass.