Advances in catalytic production of value-added biochemicals and biofuels via furfural platform derived lignocellulosic biomass

Lignocellulosic biomass; hemicellulose, has been recognized as one of the most important renewable bioresources for production of alternative biofuels and biochemicals. The successful utilization of biomass derived from agricultural feedstocks to replace petroleum and petrochemical products would strongly support the sustainable bio-economy and biorefinery industry around the world. C5 and C6 sugars produced by the deconstruction of lignocellulosic materials through hydrolysis processes can be further converted to key intermediate chemicals, including furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, furan and organic acids. Among these, furfural is considered as a promising biomass-derived platform which can be a key intermediate for producing a variety of C4 and C5 species, such as, furan, tetrahydrofuran, pentanediol, lactic acid, and levulinic acid. This review will show the catalytic processes, especially, heterogeneous catalysis, for converting furfural into value-added biochemicals and biofuels. The applications of these compounds are added as background information, and the research trends based on several publications and patents in the past decade are intensively analyzed.

Automated summary

Hemicellulose in lignocellulosic biomass is an important renewable bioresource for the production of alternative biofuels and biochemicals. Successful utilization of agricultural feedstock biomass to replace petroleum products can support sustainable bio-economy and biorefinery industry worldwide. This review focuses on catalytic processes for converting furfural into value-added biochemicals and biofuels, analyzing research trends based on publications and patents from the past decade.