Experimental and Kinetic Study of Arabinose Conversion to Furfural in Renewable Butanone-Water Solvent Mixture Catalyzed by Lewis Acidic Ionic Liquid Catalyst

Arabinose, the second most abundant pentose in lignocellulosic biomass, can be dehydrated to produce a well-known platform chemical named furfural. However, the lowest reactivity of arabinose among the aldopentoses in biomass has hindered its application. In this work, a butanone-water mixture as a green solvent system was employed in the production of furfural from arabinose, and a Lewis acidic ionic liquid was chosen as the catalyst. An excellent furfural yield of 60% and corresponding arabinose conversion of 100% was obtained at 140 degrees C within 30 min. The kinetic analysis indicated that the decreasing furfural yield was mainly due to the condensation reaction between furfural and the intermediate, which came from arabinose dehydration. Self-degradation of furfural played a minor role in the falling yield at prolonged reaction time. Moreover, the butanone-water solvent mixture was beneficial for increasing the activation energy of furfural degradation, and therefore, the formation of byproducts was suppressed.