Dehydration of saccharides to anhydro-sugars in dioxane: effect of reactants, acidic strength and water removal in situ

The dehydration of cellulose in polar aprotic solvents produces high-value anhydro-sugars, opening up a new avenue for the utilization of cellulose. However, there are still some problems that need to be solved. Herein, we selected some carbohydrates (e.g. cellulose, starch, cellobiose, maltose, methyl-β-D-glucopyranoside and methyl-α-D-glucopyranoside) to examine the influence of different glycosidic bonds and substituents on the preparation of levoglucosan (LGA). The results of LGA yields, reaction rate constants and activation energies from different saccharides show that β-glycosidic bond is more vulnerable to break, forming LGA more easily. The activation energies of the latter 4 carbohydrates are 89.9, 104.2, 93.3, 113.6 kJ/mol, respectively. The strength of acid affects the dehydration process of cellulose greatly. These acids whose pK_a values are between − 3 and − 2, including p-toluenesulfonic acid, methanesulfonic acid, and sulfuric acid, can achieve the best yields of LGA and levoglucosenone (LGO). Accordingly, those acids with higher pK_a value have no catalytic activity, whereas the rate of cellulose degradation using lower pK_a valued acids as catalyst is too fast to be efficiently monitored and carbonization is severe. The side reaction of cellulose hydrolysis and the formation of byproducts including 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and furfural (FF) could be suppressed effectively through the addition of phosphorus pentoxide as water absorbent into the reaction system. The molar concentration ratio of LGO and (HMF + FF + Glucose) reached 12.04, which is 105% higher than those without water absorbent. This ratio can reach 21.38 in LGA dehydration into LGO process when phosphorus pentoxide was added.