Shinji Kudo

This paper presents a novel method for continuous production of a biomass-derived platform chemical, levoglucosenone (LGO), from cellulose without its pretreatment or use of solvent. First, cellulose is pyrolyzed, and then the volatiles are reformed over a catalyst consisting of a type of ionic liquid supported over porous char. The ionic liquid, having a moderate hydrogen-bond basicity, performs well in the dehydrative conversion of levoglucosan (LGA) and anhydrosugar oligomers in the volatiles

Levoglucosenone is a synthetically valuable and versatile compound that is present as a minor product of cellulose pyrolysis. Here, we report the catalytic pyrolysis of cellulose by mixing with 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium triflate ionic liquid (IL), forming levoglucosenone in high yield. The catalysis of the IL was selectively directed to form levoglucosenone, while the low content of IL (50%) effectively prevented formation of char, leading to a yield near 20% even at 250 °C. The thermally

Levoglucosenone (LGO) is a biobased compound that is generated during the pyrolysis of cellulose under catalysis. After several decades of foundational research into production methods, the relatively large-scale industrial production of LGO recently commenced. As a result, research on the application of LGO has increased and extended to the production of commodity chemicals, such as solvents, polymers, resins, and fuels, with LGO as the feedstock, while seeking to minimize production costs. An

Optically active sydonic acid (1) was isolated for the first time from a culture broth of Glonium sp. The absolute stereochemistry was established to be (S) by comparing the circular dichroism (CD) spectrum with that of (+)-curcutetraol after conversion into (+)-sydonol (2).

Open crop residue burning is one of the major sources of air pollutants including the precursors of photooxidants like ozone and secondary organic aerosol. We made measurements of trace gases including nonmethane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) in a rural area in central East China in June 2010. During the campaign, we identified six biomass burning events in total through the simultaneous enhancement of carbon monoxide and acetonitrile. Four cases represented fresh plumes ( 3 h after emissi

In this study, various types of ionic liquids (ILs) were examined for catalytic activity in the pyrolysis of cellulose for the production of levoglucosenone, which is a valuable and versatile compound for the synthesis of a variety of novel compounds. Cellulose was simply mixed with the ILs and subjected for the pyrolysis, typically at 300 °C, to produce volatile products, including levoglucosenone, separated from the ILs phase. The type of IL anion significantly affected the catalysis, and the

Levoglucosenone (LGO) is an emerging biorenewable platform for the fine and commodity chemical industries. Herein, we report an aqueous phase conversion of LGO to 5-hydroxylmethylfurfural (HMF) and levulinic acid (LA) over solid acid catalyst. Several types of solid acid catalysts such as zeolites, strongly acidic ion-exchange resin, and sulfonated activated carbon were investigated for this reaction. Among the tested catalysts, ZSM-5 and Amberlyst 70 showed the best performances for selectively

Global iron and steel production continues to expand. The iron-making industry is, however, one of the main contributors to global warming due to its reliance on fossil fuel-based high temperature processes. Therefore, alternative green approaches to iron-making are highly desired. Herein, we propose a new concept of iron-making, which consists of a sequence of known reactions: the dissolution of iron from iron ore using oxalic acid to obtain a Fe(III) oxalate aqueous solution, followed by the p

The combination of torrefaction and pelletization offers the potential to produce fuels with high energy densities on both mass and volume bases as well as excellent storage and transportation characteristics from biomass. Conventional dry torrefaction, performed in inert atmosphere, inevitably decreases the pelletability of biomass because of the occurrence of a dehydrative reaction and resulting formation of char that inhibits densification in the pelletization. The present study revealed bene