Progress in NMR Studies of Carbohydrates Conversion on Zeolites

Carbohydrates are important biomass feedstock which can be transformed to expected products by catalytic processes. Metal-containing zeolites with Lewis acidity have been found to exhibit excellent reactivity in conversion of carbohydrates. Understanding the nature of active sites and reaction mechanism is essential for the development of highly active catalyst towards carbohydrates conversion. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool to provide useful information on active site and reaction mechanism in zeolite catalysis. This review focuses on the recent prowess of NMR studies of active centers, interactions between catalysts and reactants, reaction mechanisms and product distributions in catalytic conversion of carbohydrates on zeolites. Challenges and opportunities in this field are also discussed.