Microwave assisted conversion of fructose and glucose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in a continuous flow reactor

Identifier:  TFG:1726

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TFG1726

Authors:  Nadal Pijuan, Maria Montserrat

Abstract:
This thesis deals with the acid-catalyzed dehydration of carbohydrates to obtain 5- hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Conversion will be accomplished using a microwave assisted flow reactor. During the last few decades, HMF has been widely studied as it is considered as one of the top value-added bio-based chemicals. It can be converted into a broad range of interesting chemicals applied in many different applications such as fuels and solvents but most importantly polyethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate. This is a bio-based plastic which can replace PET in a lot of applications. The main goal in this thesis is to optimize the reaction parameters such as HCl/AlCl3 ratio (catalyst), temperature and reaction time using -valerolactone (GVL) as solvent. The starting reactant is glucose. Ideally it is obtained from renewable resources, more precisely procured from chocolate waste from Belgian industries.