Catalytic oxidation of biomass to oxygenated chemicals with exceptionally high yields using H5PV2Mo10O40

The transformation of biomass into platform chemicals is a key intermediate step to establish biomass-based sustainable chemical processes. The preparation of oxygenated chemicals by conversion of biomass is of significant conceptual and practical interest. In this work, an efficient catalytic system for carbohydrate-based biomass oxidation to oxygenated chemicals (including formic acid, dimethoxymethane and methyl formate) with O 2 using H 5 PV 2 Mo 10 O 40 as catalyst is presented. Conversions of glucose and cellulose in a methanol/water medium achieved total product yields of oxygenated chemicals up to 92.9% and 89.7%, respectively (based on carbon). A conversion pathway to clarify the mechanism of product formation was proposed. Protecting reactive functional groups of sugars and reaction intermediates via acetalisation and etherification in methanol effectively suppressed CO 2 formation and remarkably enhanced the production of oxygenated chemicals. The effect of solvent composition on catalyst H 5 PV 2 Mo 10 O 40 was investigated, and it was found that the structural stability of the catalyst increased by the addition of methanol. The catalyst was reused four times without significant decline in activity.