TY - JOUR
T1 - Toward biomass-derived renewable plastics
T2 - Production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid from fructose
AU - Motagamwala, Ali Hussain
AU - Won, Wangyun
AU - Sener, Canan
AU - Alonso, David Martin
AU - Maravelias, Christos T.
AU - Dumesic, James A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 The Authors.
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - We report a process for converting fructose, at a high concentration (15 weight %), to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a monomer used in the production of polyethylene furanoate, a renewable plastic. In our process, fructose is dehydrated to hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) at high yields (70%) using a g-valerolactone (GVL)/H2O solvent system. HMF is subsequently oxidized to FDCA over a Pt/C catalyst with 93% yield. The advantage of our system is the higher solubility of FDCA in GVL/H2O, which allows oxidation at high concentrations using a heterogeneous catalyst that eliminates the need for a homogeneous base. In addition, FDCA can be separated from the GVL/H2O solvent system by crystallization to obtain >99% pure FDCA. Our process eliminates the use of corrosive acids, because FDCA is an effective catalyst for fructose dehydration, leading to improved economic and environmental impact of the process. Our techno-economic model indicates that the overall process is economically competitive with current terephthalic acid processes.
AB - We report a process for converting fructose, at a high concentration (15 weight %), to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a monomer used in the production of polyethylene furanoate, a renewable plastic. In our process, fructose is dehydrated to hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) at high yields (70%) using a g-valerolactone (GVL)/H2O solvent system. HMF is subsequently oxidized to FDCA over a Pt/C catalyst with 93% yield. The advantage of our system is the higher solubility of FDCA in GVL/H2O, which allows oxidation at high concentrations using a heterogeneous catalyst that eliminates the need for a homogeneous base. In addition, FDCA can be separated from the GVL/H2O solvent system by crystallization to obtain >99% pure FDCA. Our process eliminates the use of corrosive acids, because FDCA is an effective catalyst for fructose dehydration, leading to improved economic and environmental impact of the process. Our techno-economic model indicates that the overall process is economically competitive with current terephthalic acid processes.
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U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.aap9722
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aap9722
M3 - Article
C2 - 29372184
AN - SCOPUS:85042188213
SN - 2375-2548
VL - 4
JO - Science Advances
JF - Science Advances
IS - 1
M1 - eaap9722
ER -