| abstract |
A process for producing furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and / or levulinic acid from cellulosic biomass in some variations, the invention provides a process for producing furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and / or levulinic acid from cellulosic biomass, comprising: fractionation from the raw material in the presence of a solvent for lignin, sulfur dioxide, and water, to produce a liquor containing hemicellulose, cellulose rich solids, and lignin; hydrolyzing the hemicellulose contained in the liquor to produce hemicellulosic monomers; dehydrating the hemicellulose to convert at least a portion of c5 hemicelluloses to furfural and to convert at least a portion of c6 hemicelluloses to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural; converting at least some 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to levulinic acid and formic acid; and recovering at least one of furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, or levulinic acid. other embodiments provide a process for hemicellulose dehydration to convert c5 oligomeric hemicelluloses to furfural and to convert c6 oligomeric hemicelluloses to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. furfural can be converted to succinic acid or to levulinic acid, for example. 1/1 |