Issue 3, 2022

Effect of the Wells–Dawson phosphomolybdic heteropolyacid on the conversion of glucose into glycolic acid

Abstract

Cellulose, which is the largest component of renewable biomass raw materials, can be transformed into a series of top value-added molecular organic acids, such as glycolic acid (GlycA), formic acid (FA), lactic acid (LacA), etc. Hexoses are intermediates in cellulose conversion, among which glucose is a key component in controlling the formation of GlycA. Selective conversion of glucose into GlycA remains a challenge because glucose–fructose isomerization followed by fructose dehydration and [3 + 3] retro-aldol reactions occurs easily in a thermodynamic reaction in acidic catalytic systems, resulting in the formation of 5-HMF, FA, LacA, levulinic acid (LevA), etc. In this study, density functional theory (DFT) results verified that D-glucopyranose (as a model of cellulose) was easily converted to fructose and then dehydrated to 5-HMF without a catalyst. Subsequently, the effects of different reaction conditions on glucose conversion were compared with or without a catalyst. The results showed that the Wells–Dawson phosphomolybdic heteropolyacid H6P2Mo18O62 (PMo), a green solid acid, had high activity and selectivity in the epimerization of glucose into mannose and the [2 + 4] retro-aldol reaction of glucose/mannose in water, and the highest yield of GlycA was 13.58% over 0.03 g PMo at 180 °C for 60 min, which was far higher than that without a catalyst (<2% yield). This study lays a foundation for biomass conversion into GlycA in the chemical industry using Wells–Dawson heteropolyacids.

Graphical abstract: Effect of the Wells–Dawson phosphomolybdic heteropolyacid on the conversion of glucose into glycolic acid

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Oct 2021
Accepted
06 Dec 2021
First published
17 Dec 2021

React. Chem. Eng., 2022,7, 691-698

Effect of the Wells–Dawson phosphomolybdic heteropolyacid on the conversion of glucose into glycolic acid

J. Cao, X. Wang, Y. Zhang and X. Xie, React. Chem. Eng., 2022, 7, 691 DOI: 10.1039/D1RE00477H

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