Conversion of Pretreated Biomass into Levulinic Acid via Continuous Extraction at Atmosphere Pressure(cited: 2)

Conversion of biomass to chemicals or fuels under mild condition is still a challenge. As a platform molecule for chemicals and fuels, levulinic acid (LA) has been prepared by lique-faction of biomass at high pressure. In order to carry out the conversion from wheat straw to LA at atmosphere pressure, continuous extraction of the reactive system by an organicsolvent with a higher density than that of water was utilized for degradation of pretreated biomass. Yields of LA were measured by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance. The results revealed that a maximum yield of 30.66% of LA can be obtained from wheat straw. In addition, the effects of biomass pretreated conditionson the LA conversion have been studied. The study provides a new route to convert biomass to valuable chemicals at atmosphere pressure.