Pyrolysis of D-Glucose to Acrolein

Despite of its great importance, the detailed molecular mechanism for carbohydrate pyrolysis remains poorly understood. We perform a density functional study with a newly developed XYG3 functional on the processes for D-glucose pyrolysis to acrolein. The most feasible reaction pathway starts from an isomerization from D-glucose to D-fructose, which then undergoes a cyclic Grob fragmentation, followed by a concerted electrocyclic dehydration to yield acrolein. This mechanism can account for the known experimental results.