Researchers discover new way to deoxygenize biomass

Biomass Magazine August 2009
By Lisa Gibson

University of California Berkeley and Berkeley Lab researchers have discovered a relatively inexpensive way to remove oxygen from biomass, which could pave the way for producing many of today’s petrochemical products from biomass.

The one-step deoxygenation technique is based on an existing formic acid treatment. Formic acid, a chemical found in bee venom, converts glycerol (a byproduct of biodiesel production) into allyl alcohol, which is used as a starting material in the production of polymers, drugs, organic compounds, herbicides and other chemical products. Today, allyl alcohol is produced from the oxidation of petroleum.

“Right now, about 5 percent of the world’s supply of petroleum is used to make feedstocks that are synthesized into commodity chemicals,” said Jonathan Ellman, UC Berkeley chemistry professor and a principal investigator in the research. “If these feedstocks can instead be made from biomass, they become renewable and their production will no longer be a detriment to the environment.” The process also can convert erythritol, obtained by the fermentation of glucose, to dihydrofuran, according to Ellman.

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