Presentation Information
[1B10]Direct conversion of glucose to C2 and C4 carbohydrates in ethanol by selective retro-aldolization and subsequent acetalization
○Navya Subray Bhat1, Shi Quan1, Ryota Osuga1, Mizuho Yabushita2, Satoshi Suganuma1, Kiyotaka Nakajima1 (1. Institute for Catalysis, Hokkaido University, Kita 21 Nishi 10, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 001-0021, Japan, 2. Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-07 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8577, Japan)
Keywords:
Glucose,Heterogeneous catalysis,Retro-aldolization
We report a new strategy for the conversion of glucose to erythrose and glycolaldehyde, which has potential applications as building blocks in pharmaceuticals, green solvents, and biodegradable sugars by selective retro-aldolization followed by acetalization using the combination of Nb2O5 and zeolite in the presence of ethanolic medium. Lewis acidic Nb sites are active sites for retro-aldolization, and Brønsted acidity of mordenite zeolite facilitates in-situ acetalization. Acetalization improves the intrinsic instability of the two carbohydrates and shifts the reaction equilibrium toward desirable products, thus enabling high selectivity toward both products, even at high glucose conversion.