Subscriber access provided by UNIV OF LETHBRIDGE
Article
Reaction Pathway Analysis of Ethyl levulinate and 5Ethoxymethylfurfural from D-Fructose Acid Hydrolysis in Ethanol Thomas Flannelly, Stephen Dooley, and James J. Leahy Energy Fuels, Just Accepted Manuscript • Publication Date (Web): 22 Sep 2015 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on October 9, 2015
Just Accepted “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication. They are posted online prior to technical editing, formatting for publication and author proofing. The American Chemical Society provides “Just Accepted” as a free service to the research community to expedite the dissemination of scientific material as soon as possible after acceptance. “Just Accepted” manuscripts appear in full in PDF format accompanied by an HTML abstract. “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been fully peer reviewed, but should not be considered the official version of record. They are accessible to all readers and citable by the Digital Object Identifier (DOI®). “Just Accepted” is an optional service offered to authors. Therefore, the “Just Accepted” Web site may not include all articles that will be published in the journal. After a manuscript is technically edited and formatted, it will be removed from the “Just Accepted” Web site and published as an ASAP article. Note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the manuscript text and/or graphics which could affect content, and all legal disclaimers and ethical guidelines that apply to the journal pertain. ACS cannot be held responsible for errors or consequences arising from the use of information contained in these “Just Accepted” manuscripts.
Energy & Fuels is published by the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036 Published by American Chemical Society. Copyright © American Chemical Society. However, no copyright claim is made to original U.S. Government works, or works produced by employees of any Commonwealth realm Crown government in the course of their duties.
Page 1 of 36
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Energy & Fuels
1 2
Reaction Pathway Analysis of Ethyl levulinate and 5-Ethoxymethylfurfural from DFructose Acid Hydrolysis in Ethanol
3
Thomas Flannelly, Stephen Dooley, J.J Leahy
4 5 6
Department of Chemical and Environmental Sciences, University of Limerick, Ireland.
7 8
Abstract
9
This study utilises numerical modelling to provide a mechanistic discussion of the synthesis
10
of the advanced biofuel candidates, ethyl levulinate and 5-ethoxymethylfurfural, from α/β-D-
11
fructopyranose (D-fructose) in a condensed phase homogeneous ethanol system at 351 K
12
catalysed by hydrogen cations. A mechanistic comprehension is pursued by detailed
13
measurements of reactant, intermediate and product species temporal evolutions, as a
14
function of H2SO4 (0.09, 0.22, 0.32 mol/L) and
15
concentration, also considering the addition of water to the ethanol media (0, 12, 24 mass %
16
water in ethanol).
17
levulinate, and several other intermediate species are quantified as major species fractions at
18
45-85 % of the initial D-fructose mass. To inform the mechanistic discussion mass-conserved
19
chemically authentic kinetic models and empirical rate constants are derived each assuming a
20
first order relationship to the hydrogen cation concentration. The optimal synthesised
21
fractions of ethyl levulinate and 5-ethoxymethylfurfural considered as fuel components,
22
achieve a mass yield of 63 % with respect to the fructose mass and a volumetric energy
23
valorisation (∆HCombustion, kcal/mL) of 215 % with respect to the ethanol consumed, indicating
24
the viability of the synthesis.
D-fructose,
D-fructose
(0.14, 0.29, 0.43 mol/L)
5-hydroxymethylfurfural, 5-ethoxymethylfurfural, ethyl
25 26
Keywords. D-fructose, 5-ethoxymethylfurfural, ethyl levulinate, reaction mechanism, kinetic
27
model.
1 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
Energy & Fuels
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Page 2 of 36
28
1. Introduction
29
Presently there is a growing effort to find renewable and sustainable alternatives to petroleum
30
derived bulk chemicals and fuels. The catalytic conversion of biomass derived cellulose and
31
hemicellulose to platform chemicals has been widely recognised as an opportunity to develop
32
a carbohydrate based chemical industry.1-2 Lignocellulosic derived hexose and pentose sugars
33
have potential as a sustainable alternative to the carbohydrates derived from edible crop
34
matter. The United States Department of Energy have identified promising renewable
35
chemical building blocks that may be produced from such biomass derived sugars.3 Ethyl
36
levulinate and 5-ethoxymethylfurfural, Figure 1, are two such promising furan derived
37
chemicals for potential use as transportation fuels.
38 39
Ethyl levulinate has received a significant amount of attention purporting its potential use as a
40
fuel.4-5 Chemical systems reporting its synthesis include; ethylation of levulinic acid, furfuryl
41
alcohol and 5-chloromethylfurfural.6–12 Ethyl levulinate production from biomasses have
42
been reported13–15 however; yields have been modest at 40-50 %. There have also been
43
considerable difficulties in its synthesis from glucose and cellulose with 44.8 mol % the
44
highest yield reported to date using glucose as a starting material in an ethanol/H2SO4
45
system.16
46 47
5-ethoxymethylfurfural has received more limited suggestions as a fuel component17 despite
48
its high volumetric density of 1.099 g/mL (298 K). Gruter and Dautzenberg18 suggest an
49
enthalpy of formation of 120.1 kcal/mol, corresponding to an enthalpy of combustion of 7.87
50
kcal/g (see Table 1). These terms correspond to a volumetric energy density of 8.66 kcal/mL
51
(36.24 MJ/L at 298 K), thus being advantageous over those of other oxygenated fuel
52
components, such as ethanol (7.11 kcal/mL), and ethyl levulinate (7.53 kcal/mL). Indeed the
2 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
Page 3 of 36
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Energy & Fuels
53
value is comparable to petroleum derived diesel and gasoline (8.53 kcal/mL for the gasoline
54
primary reference fuel, iso-octane). Mascal and Nikitin19 use 5-chloromethylfurfural to
55
convert 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 5-ethoxymethylfurfural. Other reports use aluminium
56
chloride as a catalyst to transform glucose to 5-ethoxymethylfurfural in an ethanol/water
57
medium20 and also from using a mixture of Sn-Beta and amberlyst catalysts.21
58 59
Like ethyl levulinate, the production of 5-ethoxymethylfurfural from glucose or other
60
cellulosic sugars presents challenges. The desired etherification of glucose is suppressed by
61
side reactions of various polymerisations and acetalizations producing the recalcitrant humic
62
substances.22,23 40-50 % of lignocellulosic biomass is made-up of cellulosic glucose
63
polymers, accounting for the largest proportion of hexoses that may be obtained from
64
biomass.24 As such glucose-like hexose sugars are cheaper and more readily available than
65
pentose sugars.
66 67
It is well understood that the steric and electronic configurations of the hydroxyl groups of
68
sugars, significantly affect yields of esterification products from monosaccharides.25 As a
69
consequence, fructose is much easier to convert into furan related products than glucose. The
70
desired isomerisation from glucose is known to be facilitated by an aqueous/organic media
71
where the equilibrium population have high proportions of labile α and β‐fructofuranose
72
structures.26 There is a general consensus that in order for glucose to be efficiently converted
73
into furanic derivatives, it must initially tautomerize into fructose species.24,27 There are
74
several recent reports describing reaction conditions that promote glucose isomerisation to
75
fructose in chemical media.11,28–30 For example, Despax et al.30 reported on the use of
76
heterogeneous catalysts in organic solvent mixtures showing ~ 68 % conversion of glucose to
77
fructose. The successful isomerisation of glucose to fructose in an alcohol medium by the
3 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
Energy & Fuels
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Page 4 of 36
78
deliberate formation of methyl fructoside species as intermediates between glucose
79
conversions to fructose is of particular potential significance for the production of ethyl
80
levulinate and 5-ethoxymethylfurfural. Saravanamurugan et al.30,32
81
conversion from glucose to fructose by a one hour reaction in methanol at 120 C using an H-
82
USY zeolite. This suggests that an alcohol may be employed as both a solvent and alkylating
83
agent simultaneously, whilst also facilitating the required isomerization of glucose to
84
fructose. In this way, ethyl levulinate and 5-ethoxymethylfurfural may be synthesised
85
directly, rather than relying on the intermediary ethylation of the levulinic acid produced in
86
an aqueous system.
achieved 55 %
87 88
In addition to this sugar inter-conversion, the subsequent mechanism of fructose consumption
89
is the obvious further limiting step in achieving viable yields of furanic derivatives.33 Given
90
this prevailing position in the literature an improved mechanistic understanding of ethyl
91
levulinate and 5-ethoxymethylfurfural synthesis from fructose, as well as from glucose is
92
sought. There are recent reports of kinetic studies conducted on the purported H+ (hydrogen
93
cation) homogeneously catalysed dehydration of D-fructose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in
94
water.34–36 However, little is known of the analogous D-fructose dehydration in the presence
95
of ethanol and H+. Plausible reaction pathways have been suggested,27,37 but no quantitative
96
kinetic data for 5-ethoxymethylfurfural and ethyl levulinate synthesis have been reported.
97 98
We pursue an improved mechanistic comprehension employing a hierarchical modelling
99
approach that studies one sugar sub-mechanism at a time. In this context, we study the bottle-
100
neck α/β-D-fructopyranose (D-fructose) sub-mechanism initially, which once understood
101
would allow the more complex D-glucose and cellulose sub models to be developed in a
102
hierarchical manner. In order to develop realistic reaction kinetics, it is necessarily to limit
4 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
Page 5 of 36
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Energy & Fuels
103
the modelling complexity. To do so, we choose a homogeneous catalytic system of α/β-D-
104
fructose/H2SO4/ethanol, thereby minimising the mass transfer complexities of multiphase
105
heterogeneous reactions. The aim is to establish the main mechanistic relationships between
106
reactant, intermediate and intended product species such as to inform mechanistic discussion
107
and to test the validity of a viable reaction mechanism by the derivation of empirical rate
108
constants. By so doing the viability of preferentially producing one proposed fuel component
109
over the other, or to what extent this is achievable may be determined in a rigorous scientific
110
manner.
111 112 113
2. Experimental Materials
114
Ethanol, normal-octanol, acetone, (99 % purity), α/β-D-fructopyranose (CAS 57-48-7, 99%
115
purity), α/β-D-glucopyranose (CAS 50-99-7, 99 % purity) α/β-D-mannopyranose, (3458-28-4,
116
99 % purity), hence forth “D-fructose” “D-glucose” and “D-mannose” respectively, sulphuric
117
acid (H2SO4, 95-97% purity), 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (CAS 67-47-0, 99 % purity) furfural
118
(CAS 98-08-1, 98 % purity),and ethyl levulinate (CAS 539-88-8, 97 % purity) are each
119
obtained from Sigma Aldrich Ireland. Ethyl-α-D-glucopyranoside (CAS 34625-23-5, 98 %
120
purity) is obtained from Carbosyth Ltd. UK, and 5-ethoxymethylfurfural (CAS 1917-65-3,
121
96-97 % purity) is purchased from Akos Organics Gmbh, Germany.
122 123
Experimental Design and Procedure
124
Reactions are performed in a 20 cm3 spherical reactor at isothermal conditions of 351 ±1 K at
125
atmospheric pressure. The reactor is heated by an external oil bath. The reaction temperature
126
is independently controlled and monitored by a thermocouple array (Stuart™ SCT1
127
temperature controller) and an in-situ magnetic propeller ensures that the reaction mixture (D-
5 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
Energy & Fuels
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Page 6 of 36
128
fructose/H2SO4/ethanol) is well mixed and homogeneous. Atmospheric pressure is regulated
129
by fitting the main reactor exit with an open-ended condensing unit (~ 277 K), thus allowing
130
the reaction to be at reflux. For the test conditions reported here, Table 2, a heating time of 16
131
minutes is required for the reacting mixture to be heated from ambient to the prescribed
132
reaction temperature of 351 ±1 K. Reaction conditions are selected (Table 2) to parameterise
133
the influence of [H2SO4] and [D-fructose] on the reaction mechanism, whilst also considering
134
three scenarios of ethanol/water as reaction media. Reaction progress is monitored by
135
removing and analysing a 50 mg sample of the bulk reaction (0.104 g of D-fructose in 15.78 g
136
of ethanol) every hour for 480 minutes, resulting in a small cumulative perturbation to the
137
overall system mass. Control tests at the most severe conditions of Table 2, replacing D-
138
fructose with ethyl levulinate, show ethyl levulinate degradation to be within the estimated
139
experimental uncertainty, indicating it as a stable end-product. Control reactions are also
140
performed substituting 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 5-ethoxymethylfurfural as starting
141
materials for the purposes of identifying the origins of various intermediate species, as
142
elaborated later.
143 144
Analytical Methods
145
The concentrations of ethyl levulinate and 5-ethoxymethylfurfural, are analysed by gas
146
chromatography (GC, Agilient Technologies 7820 A GC system) fitted with a Restek
147
Stabilwax capillary column (30 m, 0.25 mm ID, 0.25 µm), employing hydrogen carrier gas
148
and a flame ionisation detector. Species are identified by matching retention-times to known
149
standards, and quantified by calibration of detector response to known concentrations (using
150
n-octanol as internal standard). The injection port is maintained at 523 K, a temperature
151
sufficiently high to ensure the full vaporisation of the expected reaction components. A
152
temperature program of 40 K increasing to 493 K at a rate of 20 K per minute, remaining
6 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
Page 7 of 36
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Energy & Fuels
153
isothermal at 493 K for 5 minutes is found to achieve adequate separation of these species
154
from the ethanol/water media. GC-MS analysis is also employed for the identification of
155
sample species using an Agilient 5975C MSD, which uses a HP-5MS column (30 m, 0.25
156
mm ID, 0.25 µm) otherwise employing the same variables as for GC–FID analysis. For GC
157
analysis, a known mass (50 ± 5 mg ) of analyte is extracted from the reaction media into 0.4
158
g of room temperature acetone and 0.8 g of 0.16 mg/g n-octanol in acetone, this is followed
159
by the neutralisation of any remaining acid by the addition of 50 mg of NaHCO3. This
160
dilution and cooling procedure ensures that the chemical reaction is effectively quenched.
161
This sample is then filtered through 13 mm thick, 2 µm pore size syringe filters (Acrodisc) to
162
remove any insoluble humic substances that may have been formed, and 1µl of the resulting
163
solution is injected into the sample inlet port of the GC.
164 165
Identification and quantification of D-fructose, D-glucose, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and the
166
various sugar-type derivatives is performed on an ion exchange liquid chromatography
167
system (IC) system (Dionex Corp., Sunnydale, CA) equipped with a pulsed amperometric
168
detector (AS, 10 µL sample loop, Dionex Corp., Sunnydale, CA). Analysis is performed at
169
291 K by isocratic elution with deionised water (18.2 MΩ.cm at a flow rate of 1.1 mL/min)
170
using a Dionex CarboPac PA1 carbohydrate column. The column is reconditioned using a
171
mixture of 0.4 mol/L sodium hydroxide and 0.24 mol/L sodium acetate after each analysis. A
172
25 mg portion of the sampled reaction media is diluted with 1.0 g of deionised water. As
173
before, 50 mg of NaHCO3 is added to neutralise any acid present. This sample is filtered as
174
described above before being analysed. D-fructose, D-glucose, and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural
175
concentrations are determined by detector calibration to mass prepared standard solutions.
176
7 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
Energy & Fuels
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Page 8 of 36
177
In all experiments the quantity of “humins” formed is very small, and so are only determined
178
at the completion of each reaction, when the reaction mixture is filtered through glass fibre
179
paper (Whatman, grade GF/B 2.7 µm). The filter paper is subsequently washed with ethanol
180
and placed in an oven for 24 hours at 378 K. The mass of the material remaining on the paper
181
is determined by difference and referred to as “humins”.
182 183
The pH of the reaction samples is also determined in order to measure hydrogen cation
184
concentrations [H+]. An Orion pH Ag/AgCl glass electrode fitted to a VWR Symphony
185
SB70P pH meter is employed. For pH measurements, 0.4 g samples taken from the reaction
186
media are diluted with 10 g of deionised water. The pH meter is calibrated against buffer
187
solutions (VWR 32032.291) of known [H+]. The pH of samples is variable with reaction time
188
and condition but is always in the range of 1.7-2.4.
189 190
Measurement Uncertainties
191
A reproducibility and repeatability study of Test #1 shows the overall experiment-to-
192
experiment variability to be ± 12 %, which is comparable to the majority of the uncertainty
193
estimates below. For GC analysis, experimental measurement uncertainties are; ethyl
194
levulinate (± 9.6 %), 5-ethoxymethylfurfural (± 8.2 %),
195
hydroxymethylfurfural (± 10.1 %). Uncertainties in reported [H+] are generally ± 4.5 %. In
196
addition to the several identified chemical species discussed in Section 3.1, five discrete
197
components separated and detected by IC analysis cannot be identified by retention time
198
matching to expected sugar derivatives for which analytical standards are available. Figure
199
SI1 marks these detections at 1.66, 1.81, 2.11, and 2.41 and 15.27 minutes for a
200
representative chromatogram. These species are termed “unknown # 1-5” for the purposes of
201
discussion. By testing and elimination, it is determined that these detections are not due to the
D-fructose
(± 5.6 %) and 5-
8 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
Page 9 of 36
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Energy & Fuels
202
following compounds; ethyl levulinate, 5-ethoxymethylfurfural, levulinic acid, formic acid,
203
dihydroxyacetone, ethyl formate, ethyl α/β-D-glucopyranoside, H2SO4, furfural, or any
204
species that result from a series of dummy reactions comprising; H2SO4/ethanol, and each of
205
5-hydroxymethylfurfural, 5-ethoxymethylfurfural, and ethyl levulinate at 351 K for 480
206
minutes at the most extreme reaction conditions listed in Table 2. In this way, it is determined
207
that the unknown species originate from the reaction of D-fructose. As they account for a
208
considerable amount of the total ion chromatograph signal (see Table 3), their identity is
209
worthy of some speculation.
210 211
To separate carbohydrates, the PA1 Carbopac column exploits their weakly acidic nature. At
212
high pH values (supplied by the sodium hydroxide mobile phase) the carbohydrates are
213
partially ionised and can be separated by the anion exchange mechanisms embedded on the
214
column. More acidic carbohydrates bind more strongly to the column and are retained for
215
longer time. Table SI1 in the Supporting Information demonstrates the correlation of sugar
216
pKa to retention time for a series of standard carbohydrates tested.
217 218
Of the five unknowns marked in Figure SI1 (1.61, 1.81, 2.11, 2.41 and 15.27 mins), it may
219
thus be concluded that #1-4 are of higher pKa than D-fructose or D-glucose. By analogy to the
220
glucose/methanol/acid studies of Saravanamurugan et al.38, who provide evidence of the
221
formation of various methylated pyranosides and furanosides as intermediate species; it is
222
speculated that the species that are eluted before 2 minutes are ethyl fructopyranoside or
223
fructofuranoside species. It is clear from the temporal evolution of these identities that they
224
are intermediates in the formation of the desired fuel components. Only Ethyl α-D-
225
glucopyranoside (CAS 34625-23-5) and ethyl β-D-glucopyranoside analytical standards are
226
presently available (Carbosynth Ltd.) and show very similar retention times of 1.68 min and
9 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
Energy & Fuels
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Page 10 of 36
227
1.72 minutes respectively under the conditions of separation. This behaviour is consistent
228
with the elutions at 1.61 and 1.81 minutes being similar such C8H16O6 ethyl pyranoside or
229
analogous ethyl furanoside isomers (for which standards are not available). As only very
230
small quantities of D-glucose are detected in any of the experimental tests, it suggests that
231
these entities are more likely fructose derived ethyl fructofuranoside and/or fructopyranoside,
232
C8H16O6 isomers. Henceforth these substances will be termed “ethyl fructosides”. As ethyl
233
fructoside analytical standards are unavailable, these moieties are quantified by standard
234
preparations of ethyl α-D-glucopyranoside and ethyl-β-D-glucopyranoside, which show
235
exactly equivalent response factors on the pulsed amperometry detector (see SI).
236 237
Correlation of pKa to retention time infers that unknown #5 (15.27 mins) is more acidic in
238
nature than
239
speculate that unknown #5 is a C6 sugar species intermediate between
240
hydroxymethylfurfural. A detailed discussion supporting this speculation is provided as SI.
D-fructose
(12.5 mins) and is thus likely be a stable sugar intermediate. We D-fructose
and 5-
241 242
The corresponding quantitative uncertainties are estimated as; unknowns #1 & #2 (ethyl
243
fructosides, ±5 %), unknowns #3 & #4 (±24 %) and unknown #5, ±12 %.
244 245 246
3. Results and Discussion Experimental Observations and Reaction Mechanism
247
Figure 2 shows a general reaction mechanism for the formation of ethyl levulinate and 5-
248
ethoxymethylfurfural from
249
measurements reported in this study and those conducted by others. Figures 3-5 show the
250
temporal evolution of the major species for representative ethanol and ethanol/water
D-fructose
that is derived from both the experimental
10 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
Page 11 of 36
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Energy & Fuels
251
conditions. The data for the other tests closely follow this detail and are available as
252
Supporting Information (SI3-SI6).
253 254
Trace Species, Not Considered in Mechanistic Analysis
255
Trace amounts of D-mannose, D-glucose, dihydroxyacetone, and 5.5’(oxybis(methylene)bis-
256
2-furfural are observed in each test condition #1-7. Levulinic acid and furfural are also
257
present at