Conversion of biomass to selected chemical products.

This critical review provides a survey illustrated by recent references of different strategies to achieve a sustainable conversion of biomass to bioproducts. Because of the huge number of chemical products that can be potentially manufactured, a selection of starting materials and targeted chemicals has been done. Also, thermochemical conversion processes such as biomass pyrolysis or gasification as well as the synthesis of biofuels were not considered. The synthesis of chemicals by conversion of platform molecules obtained by depolymerisation and fermentation of biopolymers is presently the most widely envisioned approach. Successful catalytic conversion of these building blocks into intermediates, specialties and fine chemicals will be examined. However, the platform molecule value chain is in competition with well-optimised, cost-effective synthesis routes from fossil resources to produce chemicals that have already a market. The literature covering alternative value chains whereby biopolymers are converted in one or few steps to functional materials will be analysed. This approach which does not require the use of isolated, pure chemicals is well adapted to produce high tonnage products, such as paper additives, paints, resins, foams, surfactants, lubricants, and plasticisers. Another objective of the review was to examine critically the green character of conversion processes because using renewables as raw materials does not exempt from abiding by green chemistry principles (368 references).

Catalytic conversion of biomass: challenges and issues.

There are strong incentives to develop the production of fuels, chemicals and materials from biomass. However, the extensive use of biomass for industrial production, particularly for biofuels which involves high tonnages, raises environmental and ethical issues that may throw some doubts on the sustainability of these processes. The processing cost of biomass must be decreased by designing new processing routes and catalytic systems because those employed for hydrocarbons are not adapted to the molecular structure of biomolecules. To avoid competition with food supply, lignocellulosic feedstocks should be used rather than traditional agricultural crops particularly for biofuel production. Life-cycle assessment, which takes into account all the inputs and outputs of a process/product, should be carried out to evaluate the environmental impact of processes and used as a decision-making tool for product development.

Catalytic oxidation with air of cyclohexanone to dicarboxylic acids on synthetic carbons. Effect of supported metals and solvents.

The oxidation with air of cyclohexanone was conducted in the presence of synthetic carbons catalysts. The effect of carbon activation treatment (CO2 or air burnoff), phosphorus additive, platinum loading, and nature of the solvent (water or water/acetic acid mixture) were studied. Cyclohexanone oxidation at 140 degrees C yielded a mixture of C6, C5, and C4 dicarboxylic acids. Air activated carbons, including those containing phosphorus or those supporting platinum, resulted in a higher yield of adipic acid. The activity and selectivity was associated with the oxygenated functional groups, essentially carbonyl/quinone groups, created during air activation of the carbon. The incorporation of phosphorus into the carbon increased slightly the selectivity to 34.3%, probably because this additive increased the density of oxygenated functional groups. The deposition of platinum by impregnation and liquid-phase reduction with formaldehyde increased the reaction rate and improved the selectivity to adipic acid, where the highest figure was 38.8%. It was suggested that platinum contributed to molecular oxygen activation. In contrast platinum deposition by cationic exchange followed by reduction under H2 resulted often in a detrimental effect probably because the density of the oxygenated groups on carbon is decreased upon H2 reduction in the presence of platinum. When the oxidation of cyclohexanone was carried out in mixtures of water/acetic acid, the selectivity given by the different samples were quite close and generally smaller than those obtained in water which indicates that acetic acid interacts with the oxygenated surface functional groups responsible for the activity and selectivity. Oxidation experiments with methyl-labeled 4-methylcyclohexanone indicated that glutaric acid was produced by oxidative decarbonylation of both the C1 and C2 carbon atoms of the molecule.

A novel clean catalytic method for waste-free modification of polysaccharides by oxidation.

A practical, clean, single step oxidative modification of polysaccharides by H(2)O(2) catalysed by water soluble iron phthalocyanine, exemplified with starch, allows quantitative preparation of a range of tailor made materials without producing any waste.

Toxicity to Daphnia magna and Vibrio fischeri of Kraft bleach plant effluents treated by catalytic wet-air oxidation.

Two Kraft-pulp bleaching effluents from a sequence of treatments which include chlorine dioxide and caustic soda were treated by catalytic wet-air oxidation (CWAO) at T=463 K in trickle-bed and batch-recycle reactors packed with either TiO2 extrudates or Ru(3 wt%)/TiO2 catalyst. Chemical analyses (TOC removal, color, HPLC) and bioassays (48-h and 30-min acute toxicity tests using Daphnia magna and Vibrio fischeri, respectively) were used to get information about the toxicity impact of the starting effluents and of the treated solutions. Under the operating conditions, complex organic compounds are mostly oxidized into carbon dioxide and water, along with short-chain carboxylic acids. Bioassays were found as a complement to chemical analyses for ensuring the toxicological impact on the ecosystem. In spite of a large decrease of TOC, the solutions of end products were all more toxic to Daphnia magna than the starting effluents by factors ranging from 2 to 33. This observation is attributed to the synergistic effects of acetic acid and salts present in the solutions. On the other hand, toxicity reduction with respect to Vibrio fischeri was achieved: detoxification factors greater than unity were measured for end-product solutions treated in the presence of the Ru(3 wt%)/TiO2 catalyst, suggesting the absence of cumulative effect for this bacteria, or a lower sensitivity to the organic acids and salts. Bleach plant effluents treated by the CWAO process over the Ru/TiO2 catalyst were completely biodegradable.