Determination of Furfural and Hydroxymethylfurfural Formed From Biomass Under Acidic Conditions

Abstract

A rapid method for simultaneous determination of furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in the filtrate of an acidic treatment of biomass was developed based on UV spectrophotometer. Interference from acid soluble lignin is alleviated by the use of absorbance difference spectrum before and after reduction with sodium borohydride (NaBH₄). The concentrations of furfural and HMF in the filtrate are determined by measuring the absorbance of the difference spectrum at 277 nm and 285 nm, the characteristic absorption maxima for furfural and HMF, respectively. Two simultaneous equations are solved to obtain the concentrations of furfural and HMF in the filtrate. Acid soluble lignin in the solution is determined to cause negligible interference on the analysis.

Keywords:

• Acid hydrolysis
• biomass
• furfural
• HMF

This work was done by the senior author at North Carolina State University as a part of her doctoral dissertation for her degree requirement at South China University of Technology. The senior author is grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project number 30671647) and the China Scholarship Council for the financial support for her study at North Carolina State University. The authors are grateful to Cleantech Partners/DOE for partial financial support of this research through VPP project.

Notes

¹ASL stands for acid soluble lignin, AuH stands for auto hydrolysis, and AH stands for acid hydrolysis. All hardwood samples are mixed southern hardwood.

²Weight percent of wood.