One-pot Formation of Furfural from Xylose via Isomerization and Successive Dehydration Reactions over Heterogeneous Acid and Base Catalysts

An efficient furfural formation from xylose, a major pentose in hemicellulose of biomass, was demonstrated using a pair of solid acid and base in one-pot. High furfural yield was obtained in polar aprotic solvents including N,N-dimethylformamide using Amberlyst-15 and hydrotalcite under moderate conditions. This efficient production of furfural was performed via aldose-ketose isomerization of xylose to xylulose by solid base and successive dehydration of xylulose to furfural by solid acid.