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One-Step method for the production of 5-HMF from catalytic conversion of microalgal biomass

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Abstract

The conversion of biomass to value-added chemicals using catalysis is a promising technology for the next decade. In this study, Chlorella sorokiniana was investigated as a low-cost biomass source for producing 5-HMF. The microalga was grown under sustainable conditions, and its biomass was treated with non-precious metal catalysts, including FeCl3, AlCl3, SnCl3, and ZiOCl2.8H2O. The results showed that AlCl3 was the most effective catalyst, yielding up to 65.78 ± 7.2%, while ZrOCl2 and FeCl3 did not produce any HMF, and only a small amount was observed with SnCl4. The reaction was carried out at 100 °C for 120 min, using 7.5 mol% of AlCl3 in a DMSO reaction system. The study proposed a mechanism for the formation of HMF from biomass using AlCl3 as the catalyst and noted the positive effect of DMSO on HMF formation. These findings suggest that microalgae biomass could be a cheap and sustainable source for producing green compounds using AlCl3 as a catalyst.

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Funding

This work was supported by Netaji Subhas University of Technology, New Delhi, India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences and Engineering, Netaji Subhas University of Technology, Dwarka Sector-3, New Delhi, 110 078, India

    Shashank Kumar Singh & Yatender Kumar

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal, 731235, India

    Soumya Sasmal

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  1. Shashank Kumar Singh
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  2. Yatender Kumar
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Contributions

SK Singh: Conducted the experiments, data validation, and writing of the draft of the manuscript.

Y Kumar: Data analysis, supervision.

S Sasmal: Conceptualization of the experiments, data analysis, supervision.

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Correspondence to Soumya Sasmal.

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Singh, S.K., Kumar, Y. & Sasmal, S. One-Step method for the production of 5-HMF from catalytic conversion of microalgal biomass. Biomass Conv. Bioref. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-023-04316-4

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