Title
Reconstruction of humins formation mechanism from decomposition products: A GC-MS study based on catalytic continuous flow depolymerizations
Author
Filiciotto, L.
Balu, A.M.
Romero, A.A.
Angelici, C.
van der Waal, J.C.
Luque, R.
Publication year
2019
Abstract
Humins, a by-product of biomass chemical conversion technologies, still present controversies in their structural and mechanistic identification. Traditional studies of the structure and mechanism have focused so far on their syntheses from key molecules (sugars, HMF) and spectroscopic analyses of the as-synthesized oligomers/macromolecules. Herein, we propose structural and mechanism insights based on a novel down-up approach involving the decomposition of humins viacatalytic reactions in continuous flow and interpretation of product molecules. The apparent co-existence of different mechanisms proposed in literature is observed upon product distribution analysis, and the key molecules taking part into humins formation are identified, including furanics, levulinates, sugar-derived molecules, and others. This work shows the complexity of humins formation, and their need of valorization.
Subject
Sustainable Chemical Industry
Industrial Innovation
Humins
Biomass valorization
Hydrogenation
Continuous flow
Structural identification
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:90b3cdc7-41bb-45be-ae1f-c5c2f1a428f6
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcat.2019.110564
TNO identifier
869333
Publisher
Elsevier, Amsterdam
ISSN
2468-8231
Source
Molecular Catalysis, 479
Article number
110564
Document type
article