An integrated approach was developed for preparing epoxy fatty acid methyl esters (EFAMEs) from cottonseed using a two-phase solvent extraction (TPSE) process followed by sequential base-catalyzed transesterification and epoxidation reactions. The TPSE process was performed to achieve simultaneous production of high-quality crude cottonseed oil and nontoxic cottonseed meal. The base-catalyzed transesterification of the cottonseed oil proceeded smoothly at 30 °C over 2 h to provide a high yield of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). Subsequent epoxidation of the unsaturated FAMEs using petroleum ether as a non-polar solvent, H 3 PO 4 as a catalyst, 0.3 g/g H 2 O 2 as an oxygen donor, and HCOOH as an oxygen carrier gave the corresponding EFAMEs with a conversion to oxirane of 0.85 g/g. The order of effectiveness of catalysts was found to be H 3 PO 4 > TiO 2 > H 2 SO 4 > strong-acid cation exchange resin. The bio-based integrated process and new methods for the preparation of modified EFAMEs show great promise for comprehensive development and commercial applications of cottonseed with fewer steps and lower cost.
Solid phosphoric acid (SPA) catalysts with different carriers were prepared and used for catalytic fast pyrolysis of poplar wood to produce levoglucosenone (LGO), a valuable anhydrosugar derivative that can be used in various organic synthesis applications. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) experiments were performed to evaluate the catalytic capabilities of these catalysts under different reaction conditions. The results indicated that SPA catalyst prepared with the SBA-15 carrier exhibited the best catalytic capability for selectively producing LGO. Both the catalytic pyrolysis temperature and catalyst-to-biomass ratio affected the pyrolytic products greatly. The maximal LGO yield reached as high as 8.2 wt% from poplar wood, obtained at the pyrolysis temperature of 300 °C and the catalyst-to-biomass ratio of 1. The by-products during the catalytic pyrolysis process were mainly acetic acid (AA) and furfural (FF). In addition, the SPA catalyst possessed better catalytic capability than the liquid phosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4 ) catalyst to produce LGO.