Production of furfural from xylose at atmospheric pressure by dilute sulfuric acid and inorganic salts

In this paper, the dehydration of xylose to furfural was carried out under atmospheric pressure and at the boiling temperature of a biphasic mixture of toluene and an aqueous solution of xylose, with sulfuric acid as catalyst plus an inorganic salt ( NaCl or FeCl3) as promoter. The best yield of furfural was 83% under the following conditions: 150 mL of toluene and 10 mL of aqueous solution of 10% xylose (w/w), 10% H2SO4 (w/w), 2.4 g NaCl, and heating for 5 h. FeCl3 as promoter was found to be more efficient than NaCl. The addition of DMSO to the aqueous phase in the absence of an inorganic salt was shown to improve the yield of furfural. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.