One-pot Formation of Furfural from Xylose via Isomerization and Successive Dehydration Reactions over Heterogeneous Acid and Base Catalysts

An efficient furfural formation from xylose, a major pentose in hemicellulose of biomass, was demonstrated using a pair of solid acid and base in one-pot. High furfural yield was obtained in polar aprotic solvents including N,N-dimethylformamide using Amberlyst-15 and hydrotalcite under moderate conditions. This efficient production of furfural was performed via aldose–ketose isomerization of xylose to xylulose by solid base and successive dehydration of xylulose to furfural by solid acid.