Chromium halides mediated production of hydroxymethylfurfural from starch-rich acorn biomass in an acidic ionic liquid Original Research Article

Chromium halides were introduced for the sustainable production of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from raw acorn biomass using an acidic ionic liquid. The free sugars (glucose and maltose) released by the acidic hydrolysis of the biomass were confirmed by the FT-IR absorption bands around 995–1014 cm−1 and HPLC. FESEM analysis showed that the acorn biomass contains various sizes of starch granules and their structures were severely changed by the acidic hydrolysis. An optimal concentration of HCl for the HMF yields was 0.3 M. The highest HMF yield (58.7 + 1.3 dwt %) was achieved in the reaction mixture of 40% [OMIM]Cl + 10% ethyl acetate + 50% 0.3 M HCl extract containing a mix of CrBr3/CrF3. The combined addition of two halide catalysts was more effective in the synthesis of HMF (1.2-fold higher on average) than their single addition. The best productivity of HMF was found at 15% concentration of the biomass and at 50%, its relative productivity declined down to ca. 0.4-fold.