A novel deep eutectic solvent/acetone biphasic system for high-yield furfural production

Furfural is a versatile platform chemical that can be used as a precursor for various biofuels and biopolymers. In this work, a novel biphasic system comprising acetone and choline chloride:ethylene glycol (ChCl:EG), an effective deep eutectic solvent (DES) for biomass pretreatment, was developed for furfural production. The optimized reaction condition was as follows: 180 °C, 30 min, 1.5 w/v% AlCl3 as a catalyst, and a volumetric ratio of 7:2 of acetone to aqueous ChCl:EG (with 30% water). By applying this optimized condition to xylose-containing pretreatment liquor from switchgrass, a furfural yield of 75% was obtained, with more than 90% furfural selectively partitioned into the acetone phase. This novel biphasic system would enable not only high-yield furfural production, but also facile separation and upgrading of furfural. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd