Experimental and Kinetic Study of Arabinose Conversion to Furfural in Renewable Butanone–Water Solvent Mixture Catalyzed by Lewis Acidic Ionic Liquid Catalyst

Arabinose, the second most abundant pentose in lignocellulosic biomass, can be dehydrated to produce a well-known platform chemical named furfural. However, the lowest reactivity of arabinose among the aldopentoses in biomass has hindered its application. In this work, a butanone–water mixture as a green solvent system was employed in the production of furfural from arabinose, and a Lewis acidic ionic liquid was chosen as the catalyst. An excellent furfural yield of 60% and corresponding arabinose conversion of 100% was obtained at 140 °C within 30 min. The kinetic analysis indicated that the decreasing furfural yield was mainly due to the condensation reaction between furfural and the intermediate, which came from arabinose dehydration. Self-degradation of furfural played a minor role in the falling yield at prolonged reaction time. Moreover, the butanone–water solvent mixture was beneficial for increasing the activation energy of furfural degradation, and therefore, the formation of byproducts was suppressed.