Sustainable Conversion of Biomass-Derived <scp>d</scp>-Xylose to Furfuryl Alcohol in a Deep Eutectic Solvent–Water System
Qi Li, Jiaqiang Ren, Qing Li, Junhua Di, Cuiluan Ma, Yu-Cai He
Abstract
In this article, the feasibility of chemoenzymatically catalyzing biomass-derived d-xylose into furfuryl alcohol was verified via tandem catalysis with HCOOH and reductase in deep eutectic solvent (DES)–water media. A high furfural yield (58.3%) was achieved by catalyzing biomass-derived d-xylose (60.0 g/L) in 30 min at 180 °C with catalyst HCOOH (3.0 wt %) in the presence of DES ChCl:Gly (7.5 vol %). In addition, one newly constructed recombinant Escherichia coli CF harboring formate dehydrogenase and reductase converted d-xylose-derived furfural to furfuryl alcohol at 89.5% yield at 35 °C and pH 6.5 using HCOONa as a cosubstrate in DES ChCl:Gly–water. HCOOH was used as an acid catalyst for the dehydration of d-xylose to furfural, and its salt (HCOONa) was used as a cosubstrate for recombinant E. coli CF to catalyze the bioreduction of furfural in ChCl:Gly–water media. One effective formic acid-catalyzed conversion of biomass-derived d-xylose to furfural was successfully established for enhancing bioreduction synthesis of furfuryl alcohol using formate as a cosubstrate in DES ChCl:Gly–water under the overarching principles of sustainability. This developed chemoenzymatic catalysis strategy was green and environmentally friendly with good potential for industrial applications.