Friday, 11th January 2008 (2637 views)

A new gold-catalysed procedure has been developed to enable the production of value-added chemicals from biomass.

Scientists at the Technical University of Denmark in Lyngby have developed a sustainable chemistry procedure for selective oxidation of biomass-derived platform chemicals furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural to form their methyl esters, reports Chemical & Engineering News.

A team led by Claus H Christensen deposited gold on titania nanoparticles and sodium methoxide in methanol solvent and an oxygen atmosphere to perform the conversion of the hydroxyl and aldehyde groups of furfurals into methyl esters.

"There is a great future for producing value-added chemicals from biomass, and it will most likely require intimate integration of biocatalytic and heterogeneous catalytic processes in order to achieve cost-competitive processes that are also environmentally friendly," Mr Christensen told the publication.

George W Huber, a University of Massachusetts chemical engineer, added that the sustainability potential of plant biomass would depend on the conversion of biomass-derived molecules into a variety of chemicals and fuels.

In related news, it has emerged that BBInternational's gold nanoparticles are to be the source for a series of certified reference materials for biomedical research at the pre-clinical level, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has revealed.

 

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